Light's Shadow
by Omniflyer
Summary: [Complete!] Mysterious occurences originating in Vale turn into an epic journey in a new land. Will the Adepts be able to handle their new trials, their new adventures... and death? [R&R!]
1. Thoughts of the Past

I'm baaaaack...

(Dew/Char): *groan*

(Dew): Haven't you learned your lesson by now?

What lesson?

(Char): That writing these things can be hazardous to your health.

Oh, I've learned that.

(Dew): But you're still writing!

*nodding*

(Dew): But if you're still writing... that means...

(Char): That means...cliffhangers?!

I didn't say tha...

(Dew): MORE?!

(Char): You don't learn, do you?!

^_^;; hehehe....

  
  


Okay , welcome to my new fic! This isn't going to be anywhere NEAR as long as FoW (only about 5 chapters I think)... darn writer's block. One day, someone needs to invent a pill to remove writer's block. Whaddya think?

Okay, the fic is going to seem heavily Sheba-based, but I don't know how long that'll last. Again, darn writer's block. Okay, then, here we go...

Oh, and I know Faran is Sheba's adoptive parent, but I couldn't remember the name given (if any) of her adoptive mother (again, if any) so, for all purposes and intents, she has an adoptive mother and her name is Leia. Understand? Cool.

  
  


Disclaimer: Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. We'll save everyone's time with this. If you ever need a disclaimer for any chapter, read just this one, which reads as follows:

I DON'T OWN GOLDEN SUN.

  
  


...that feels so good to get out of the way...

  
  


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Night-time. It was a quiet night. Luna gave off a small amount of light, just enough to light the way of the common passerby.

The common passerby, in this case, was Sheba. The young Wind Adept walked slowly along the streets of Vale. After such a long quest to light the four lighthouses of Alchemy, it was nice to have a little time to relax and think. The eight adepts that had fought so valiantly atop the Mars Lighthouse now all resided in the quiet mountain village. They had formed such a strong friendship that none of them wanted to fracture it, and so they remained together.

So she meandered along the many twisting paths and roads of Vale, all the while her overactive Jupiter mind working in overdrive. First she thought back to her days in Lalivero, and that fateful night that changed her life, and caused her destiny.

********************

[Lalivero, 1 month before the Venus Flare]

Sheba lay awake, her mind reeling before she slept. Life in Lalivero could be quite boring sometimes, sure, but it was quiet, and she appreciated that. She was always a kind of quiet girl growing up, which made the residents of Lalivero think she was a goddess child even more. Of course, they didn't realize that she was merely an Adept, but even if they knew, her miraculous survival from falling from the sky to them may have convinced them to nearly worship her anyway.

But on this night in particular, Sheba was wondering about her family. No, not Faran and Leia. Those two, her adoptive parents, had always been kind and wonderful to her. But they could never be her real parents, could they? Although, really, she often wondered how she could get along without them, but she could never really call them mother and father. They were always Faran and Leia to her. They couldn't replace the feeling, the connection she would feel with her biological parents. Her thoughts turned to her real family, whoever they were.

'Mother...father...' she thought. 'Why have you left me here? What did I do to warrant your desertion...?"

Tears slowly began to well up behind Sheba's eyes, but she quickly suppressed them. 'No sense in getting worried over something like this,' she supposed. Sheba turned over in her bed, pulled the sole blanket a little tighter over herself against the cold night desert wind, and closed her eyes. She would have drifted into an uneasy sleep, but for the ominous sound of thunder approaching. She looked to the sky, but there were no clouds present. Worried, she looked out the window.

And gasped.

At the edges of the city was a whole group of well trained soldiers. There were tens and tens of them, maybe even a hundred! Sheba took a step back, worried at the sight she saw. She saw her father, Faran, run out to speak to the leader. They exchanged some words, and Faran appeared to be getting more and more visibly agitated. She gasped as the soldier knocked her adoptive father to the ground. Leia ran out to him, and about ten of the soldiers calmly walked past them to their house. Sheba heard footsteps rising up the stairs to her room. Each step of their feet seemed to mark another beat in her heart, beating faster and more frantically with every thud of the foot falling on the stairs. Sheba shrunk to the back corner of her room opposite the door, eyes wide in fear.

The door flew open, and two soldiers appeared in the space the door had just occupied. Seeing Sheba, they walked over to her.

"What do you want?" Sheba asked meekly.

"We're not going to hurt you," one said calmly. "But you need to come with us for awhile."

"Why? I don't want to!" she cried.

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice," the other replied, grabbing her gingerly by the arm.

"Let me go!" Sheba cried, struggling. But the other man was far older than she. Sheba would have had more luck knocking down a great oak tree than escaping him.

The soldier dragged her kicking and screaming out to the street, where Leia was slowly helping Faran to his feet.

"Sheba!" Faran cried. "Run! Run away!"

"I can't! Help me, Faran!!" she cried in panic. Faran dashed toward the soldier holding her, but before he could even take a step, another soldier had knocked him to his knees. "Faran!" Sheba yelled. The soldiers didn't stop. They dragged Sheba past him and then past Leia. As they passed her, Leia slapped the soldier with all of her might. A large red mark appeared on his cheek. Angered, he knocked her to the ground with a mighty swat. She fell, and didn't seem to be able to get up again.

"Leia!!" Sheba cried. Leia turned to her stomach and looked at her with watering eyes. She tried to be reassuring even through her fear, and looked Sheba right in the eye.

"It'll be okay, Sheba, it'll be okay..." she slumped to the ground again.

"Le...Lei..." Sheba cried. "Mother!!!"

"If you want your Child of the Gods back," the captain said loudly, "you may want to get started on that lighthouse..." They dragged Sheba out of the little village, the whole while staring at Faran and the very still Leia.

"Father!! Mother!!"

********************

[Vale, Present]

Sheba smiled sadly as she remembered that memory. She hadn't seen either Faran or Leia again. She heard atop Venus Lighthouse that Faran was looking for her, but heard no mention of Leia. Maybe she was...no, she hoped not.

In the meanwhile, there was always the future to look forward to. Sheba rested on a large rock near the plaza, and reminisced some more. She seemed to be in the mood for that, tonight. This time, she let her thoughts roam back to another place...

********************

[Mars Lighthouse, 10 minutes before the Mars Flare]

"It's too late, Kraden, we can't get away from it now!!" Garet yelled over the roar of the Doom Dragon. This last obstacle on their quest was easily the most dangerous. The floor of the aerie was slippery, and one false move would result in a lot of time to ponder where the mistake was made on the way down to the ground. In addition, the outside temperature was extremely cold, meaning the Adepts had valuable little time to work with.

And of course, the Doom Dragon, the greatest fused creature any of them had ever seen, was standing in front of them, ready to crush them with one sweep of its tail.

Isaac opened the battle with a Megiddo attack, which bounced off one of the dragon's heads. It left it looking rather frazzled, but otherwise unhurt. Mia and Picard tried a double Douse attack, hoping the Dragon's vulnerability to Mercury spells would aid them. A veritable torrent of water washed over the Dragon, but when the attack subsided, all the damage that could be seen to it was a little steam rising from its mouths.

The battle raged back and forth with close calls haunting most of the Adepts. Felix was nearly impaled by the large teeth of the beast, and Ivan very nearly lost everything to a Cruel Ruin attack. And Garet...he tripped over the Doom Dragon's tail and nearly fell over the edge of the lighthouse.

Sheba raised her staff and focussed her energy into a Spark Plasma, but before she could unleash it, the Doom Dragon slashed at her with its huge claws. Sheba felt herself get cut and gashed in several places, and fell to her knees. Ivan cried out to her and ran to her as fast as he could, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the Doom Dragon from impaling her with a large claw. Sheba looked down and saw a hole in her stomach, and felt herself hit the cold aerie floor. Her eyes went black, and she felt her life slipping away from her.

She felt Ivan lift her up into his arms, crying, begging her to hold on, but she could do so no longer, and finally succumbed to death.

The next thing she knew, she was staring into Ivan's eyes, a discarded jar that had previously held the rare Water of Life in it off to the side.

"Ivan..." she began, but he put a finger up to her lips to tell her to be silent.

"Don't...scare me like that, Sheba," he whispered.

"I won't," she promised. Ivan helped her slowly to her feet, and she realized that the battle was over, and there were a few extra bodies laying around the beacon pit. Ivan looked deeply into her eyes. He spoke directly to her mind.

'Sheba... I never had the chance to tell you... I...' she cut him off.'I know,' she replied. 'Me too.' And he kissed her lovingly.

********************

[Vale, Present]

'I may not have my real family," Sheba thought, 'but I have Ivan. And I have the others, too. I suppose they're my family, now.' She smiled inwardly, happy that she had finally found a family to share her life with. Maybe the world wasn't such a cold place after all...

Interrupting her thoughts, a shattering of glass sounded from the plaza. Wondering what it was, she grabbed her staff and made her way slowly there, only Luna above lighting her way.

When she arrived at the plaza, she found a break in the glass of the window at the weapon shop, and the door wide open. It was far too late for the weapon smith to be working, so she concluded that there must be a thief about. She took her Salamander Rod (she had always hated the fact that her best weapon was aligned with Mars and not Jupiter) and edged towards the door. She crept in and saw a hooded figure pouring over the weapons.

"Stop," she said simply. The figure turned to face her. She couldn't make out his (or maybe her?) face, but she could see two glowing red eyes glaring out from under the hood. The figure raised a staff. Sheba recognized it as a Clotho's Distaff. "I don't want to fight you."

The other person disagreed. He lunged at her, and they locked staves, muscling for position. Even closer, Sheba still couldn't see who it was under the hood, so she decided not to worry about it until after she had defeated him.

Sheba spun her Rod around, trying to wrench the Staff from her adversary's grip. Unfortunately, he would not let go. He delivered a very fast spin kick that Sheba, even with her Jupiter-gifted speed, had a hard time dodging. They locked staves again, but the mysterious figure forced her back.

Sheba cast Impact on herself to increase her strength. They crossed staves and she easily forced him back, but he wasn't out of tricks yet.

The cloaked figure shone a faint purple, and cast Impact on himself. Sheba sighed inwardly. She was pitted against another Jupiter Adept. That meant that he would be resistant to her spells, so she would have to rely on strength to win, but she was never very strong. It wasn't looking good for her.

Deciding to stop fooling around, Sheba raised her Salamander Rod and called, "Shine Plasma!" Bolts of electricity arced from Sheba to the sky and back down, but amazingly, the figure dodged all of them. Sheba had never seen an opponent who could dodge lightning, but she was determined not to give up until she at least knew who her opponent was.

That could be a task easier said than done, however, as her enemy called, "Spark Plasma!!" and sent a stronger version of her attack back at her. She tried to dodge the attack, but it caught her, and she buckled to one knee. Determined to keep going, she dashed at him and swung with all of her might and the increased power of Impact.

The cloaked figure dodged underneath the attack and swung his leg along the ground to trip her up. She fell to the ground and rolled to avoid his downward smash. She rolled to her feet and faced him again. She was breathing heavily, and realized that she needed to end this fight soon. She cried, "Tempest!!" and forced everything she had into the awesome wind Psynergy. The wind howled like she had never heard it before, rippling her clothes and blowing the hood off of the cloaked stranger.

Sheba recoiled in shock.

"Ivan?!" she cried. Using surprise to his advantage, the Red-Eyed Ivan cast another Impact and smashed her in the temple. She dropped to the ground and didn't move. Ivan leaped over her and ran into the night, having failed at getting his item. There would always be another chance...

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(Char): Hey, I always liked Sheba!!

(Dew): How could you do that?!

Do what?

(Dew): Force her to relive her past, then her death, and then THIS?!

That's not... that bad!

(Char): I can't believe you!

Believe it.

(Dew): You know what scares me?

(Char): What?

(Dew): This is the cliffhanger for the first chapter.

(Char): NO!!

Well, I warned you... To the rest of you, that just happened to seem like the best place to start at. The cliffhanger was... accidental. Yes. Accidental...

Now, you know what to do!! Review!!


	2. Caught!

I've returned with another chapter!

(Dew): What took so long?

Life.

(Char): You don't have one.

Yeah, but....HEY!

(Dew): Truth hurts.

Well, I know, but... HEY!!

(Char): Oh, pipe down. You deserve it after that last cliff.

Yeah, I had a feeling people wouldn't like that one...

(Dew): So why write it?

I'm evil. And somewhat sadistic in that way.

(Char): *nodding* Finally, something I can agree on with this moron...

  
  


[I dedicate this chapter to my best friend, ZenithV, who is currently en route to his new life in Britain. May you have nearly as great a life there as you did here, so you miss me and Endo P a little. The starting of this chapter denotes a lazy, typical day in the life of the Adepts with nothing to do, just like we had so many of...]

  
  


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Sol rose over the distant horizon of the mountains beyond Vale. The Golden Sun began to shine more brightly with the onset of day. Kraden always wondered why it didn't shine as brightly at night as it did during they day; being made of pure alchemy, shouldn't it shine equally as bright at all times of the day? Which, in turn, prompted Garet to offer, "It's a sun, it shines at day. Isn't it obvious?" Hence arose the only situation in which the simple thinking of the Mars Adept may very well have overcome the wisdom of alchemists.

Vale was a much livelier place now. The eight Adepts that had lit the beacon on Mars Lighthouse had now taken up more or less permanent residence there. The group had grown so tight that none of them wanted to leave each other for very long. Occasionally a few people would go off travelling for a few days, but they would always end up back at Vale. It had become a refuge for everyone, especially the Adepts who were harassed growing up like Ivan for their differences.

Felix rose from his bed, refreshed after a nice sleep. He had put in a rigorous day of sparring with Isaac and Picard the day before, and was still a little sore from where Picard clipped him with the flat of his blade. Over and over again.

He slowly descended the stairs and found Jenna to be up already. She was sitting just outside the door, watching the lazy sunrise and enjoying a quiet morning. He poked his head out the window to join her.

"You're up early," he commented.

"What, did you think I could sleep during this?" she asked, gesturing to the crimson sunrise. Felix nodded.

"Who couldn't? It's early!" he said.

"I've never known you to be this lazy," Jenna replied. "Have a rough day yesterday?"

"Very."

"Were you sparring again?" she asked.

"Maybe," he answered mysteriously. Jenna frowned.

"You don't have to hide it from me just because you can't beat Picard. Or Isaac," she added as an afterthought.

"I can beat Isaac easily," he replied hastily. Jenna smiled, realizing she'd hit a nerve.

"You know," she replied. "Isaac did have to get as good as you in a much shorter time. You had three years of training on him. So it just goes to show he's a quick learner. There's no shame in losing to a quick learner," she smiled. "Maybe when you're older," she smirked at her older brother, knowing full well that if anything would get a rise out of the even-tempered Venus Adept, that phrase would be it.

"Older, nothing," Felix said, closing his eyes. He moved his hand along the counter beside him until he found a glass of water, and sneakily threw it over the Mars Adept. She gasped after the liquid landed on her and glared at him with a look that could freeze even Karst in her tracks. "That just goes to show you that you shouldn't argue with your elders. Maybe when you're older," Felix laughed, placing special emphasis on 'you're'. Jenna simply stared at him, and let a crimson glow overtake her left hand. Felix noticed this and withdrew his head from the window and shut it. Fast.

********************

Meanwhile, Isaac was munching on a piece of toast in his kitchen. He finished it and slowly rose from the table. He took a quick look around his house and sighed. He'd misplaced his scarf. He was wearing everything he should be: boots, tunic, gloves... but no scarf! Where did he leave it?

He bolted up the stairs and started searching frantically around his room. He upturned his sheets on his bed, looked under the bed, scavenged through the closet, searched the coat racks along the hallways... nothing! Not even a scrap of yellow. Finally, his eyes came to rest upon his mother's old blue, green-circle patterned scarf. He shuddered. He couldn't wear that, could he? But... he needed a scarf!

Isaac sighed and looked out the window. Just as he did, he saw Garet strolling broadly up the path to his house. Around his neck was a bright yellow scarf.

"Garet!" Isaac cried. "My scarf!" Garet looked up and waved.

"Good morning to you, too!" he replied. Isaac flew from the window to the stairs and took the entire flight in one leap. He burst from the door and jerked his scarf off of Garet's neck, nearly strangling him in the process. Garet coughed and rubbed his neck.

"Remind me never to get between you and that rag again," he wheezed. Isaac tied the scarf around his neck and sighed.

"Sorry about that, Garet, but I just need the scarf, you know? I walked over every continent with this thing!" he replied truthfully. Garet would never forget that. He'd misplaced every other item of clothing at least once; even his boots he'd temporarily misplaced on the boat, right when they reached Tundaria. It was a very cold walk for him that day... However, he had amazingly never misplaced the scarf.

"You do realize, of course, that life has gotten very, very boring," Garet asked. "You know we've spent about five minutes on the topic of your scarf?"

"You only got here a minute ago, Garet," Isaac smiled at the Mars impatience. "It almost makes you wish for the days when we had something to do, doesn't it?"

Garet nodded. "I'd love a problem right about now. Maybe just a small one, but something to go wrong and cause a little panic, you know?" Just then Mia ran past Isaac's house, flying in the direction of the plaza.

"Isaac, come quick!!" she cried as she tore past the two best friends. Garet's eyes went huge.

"I didn't mean it!" he insisted, but Isaac was already hot on Mia's trail.

********************

Isaac caught up to Mia about halfway to the plaza. He managed to pant out a quick, "What's wrong?" after his frantic pace to catch up to her.

"I don't know, I think it's Sheba!" she explained. "I heard that she was found hurt in front of the weapon smith's shop."

"Sheba?" Isaac asked. "Who could hurt Sheba? She's pretty tough!" he recalled, remembering the time she took out upwards of seven Doodle Bugs with a single Spark Plasma. Of course, Ivan had just been injured badly by one, so rage was a significant factor, but Isaac tried to forget about that.

"I don't know," Mia worried. "If there's someone strong enough to beat Sheba, I think we're all in a little trouble..." Isaac looked at her.

"We'll be fine," he said, cutting himself off as Mia looked at him. "I'll be fine," he smiled. "And you'd better be, too!" She laughed.

"Deal," she agreed, as the plaza came into sight. There was a large crowd gathered around the weapon smith's. Isaac and Mia approached the scene, and saw Sheba laying still in front of the door. Mia leaned down next to her, and started looking her over.

"How is she?" Isaac asked.

"She looks okay... It looks like someone knocked her out. She'll be just fine. Can you Revive her? I'd like to heal her a little bit and see how she's feeling, and I can't do that if she's unconscious."

"Sure," Isaac nodded. Just as he was about to, Garet came galloping up behind them, panting.

"How do..." he gasped, "you two run that fast...?"

"Talent," they replied at the same time. Isaac was about to cast Revive when he was interrupted again, this time by Ivan, who was storming into the plaza with all Jupiter speed at full tilt. As he passed Garet, the Fire Adept thought he saw an unusual tinge in Ivan's purple eyes, but on further inspection, they looked perfectly normal, so he ignored it and looked back to Sheba.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"She's right here," Mia replied. "Don't worry, she'll be fine. Just give Isaac a chance to wake her up, okay?" Ivan nodded. He moved to kneel down next to Sheba.

Isaac focussed his strength, felt his Psynergy channel through four of his djinn and cast Revive. A golden light draped Sheba, and her eyes slowly fluttered open. She looked around the circle of her friends and wondered why she was on the ground. Then she wondered where this terrible headache came from. 

Then she wondered about Ivan.

"Sheba!" he cried, slowly lifting her off the ground to support her. "Are you all right? What happened to you?" he worried.

"I'm... fine," she said softly. She frowned. Something wasn't adding up. Wasn't Ivan the one who did this to her in the first place? What was he playing at?

The crows, in the meanwhile, gave a collective sigh and began to disperse. The weapon smith went inside his shop, but everyone left the Adepts alone.

"Hold still," Mia said, and she waved her hand over Sheba and cast Pure Ply. A crowd of fairies drifted down and sprinkled dust over her Sheba, healing her. She felt her headache subside.

Sheba slowly picked herself up off the ground. She sent another curious look at Ivan. What was going on?

"Sheba, what happened to you?" Isaac asked her. "We need to know if we're going to do anything."

"Yeah, who am I supposed to take out?" Garet joked, cracking his knuckles.

"I was just outside the plaza last night," Sheba began.

"Alone?" Mia asked, sending a glance to her and a sly smile to Ivan.

"Yes," Sheba replied, and Mia's grin faded a little. "I... heard glass breaking in the plaza, so I came here to see what was going on."

"What happened next?" Garet asked.

"Let her speak, Garet, you'll find out," Ivan replied. Garet glared at him.

"I got to the plaza and found that the weapon smith's shop was broken into," Sheba remembered. The events of last night were a slight blur to her, but she remembered this well enough.

"Who broke into it?" Mia asked. Sheba quickly tried to dodge the question.

"I got into the shop and found a... hooded figure looking around the shop for something," she answered.

"A hooded figure?" Isaac replied, looking a little dejected. Sheba supposed he was hoping for an identity.

"Yes," she answered. "I tried to get him to surrender..."

"Good luck," Garet muttered.

"...but he wouldn't give himself up. I had to fight him," she said.

"And this one guy knocked you out?" Isaac asked quizzically. "I think you're not telling us something. There's no way just one guy could stop you."

"We started fighting and I used Impact to give myself an advantage," Sheba recalled. "I didn't want to just... crush the guy with Psynergy."

"Why not?" Garet asked.

"Because," Mia sighed at him, "sometimes you want to leave people in a state that I don't have to clean up your mess." Isaac smirked.

"Anyway," Sheba continued. "I thought I had an advantage, but then he cast Impact, too."

"What?" Isaac asked unbelievingly. Sheba nodded.

"And then I tried Shine Plasma but he threw Spark right back at me," she said.

"So how did he knock you out?" Garet asked, getting impatient.

"I cast Tempest on him, and... blew his hood off. He surprised me and got me when I wasn't...ready..." Sheba said.

"You know who he was?" Ivan asked.

"Yes, but..."

"Tell me, then! Tell me, and I swear I'll crush him!" Ivan cried.

"But... Ivan, I... I..." Sheba stumbled. This wasn't adding up at all. It was him! But... Ivan didn't have those red eyes today... but still... it was him! Sheba was sure of it!

"I don't think..." Sheba began to say, but Ivan cut her off.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me," he said reassuringly. "I'll just find out for myself. Relax," he said, and cast Mind Read.

"Ivan, no...!" Sheba said, but it was too late. Ivan was already reading her memories of the previous night, and saw what occurred right when the Tempest knocked the hood off the thief's head. He gasped and broke the connection.

"It...it can't be!" he gasped.

"Who is it?" Isaac said. Sheba looked down.

"It's..." Ivan stuttered. "It's... me...."

"What?!" Garet cried. "There's no way!"

"How can it be?" Mia wondered. But before any of them could say anything else, the weapon smith came from inside his store to confront them.

"I heard it all!" he said. "You!" he pointed an accusatory finger at Ivan. "You're coming with me!"

"Just wait a minute, sir," Isaac began, but the shopkeeper had already began taking him away.

"Where are you going with him?" Sheba cried, eyes welling up.

"I'll take him to that cave outside of town. A few of us converted it into a rather nice holding area for creeps like this guy. We haven't had to put anyone in yet, but he can be the guinea pig," he replied.

"No!" Sheba cried. "Bring him back!"

"We'll get this sorted out, Ivan!" Isaac called. "I promise!" Ivan said nothing, still paralyzed by shock.

And no one noticed the slightly redder shade of Garet's eyes as Ivan was roughly dragged past them.

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(Dew): Hey, that's not nice!

Neither are a lot of things.

(Char): Like this! [Pyroclasm]

HOT!! OWWWW...

(Dew): Maybe you'll think twice about cliffhangers now...

Not likely.

(Dew): [Froth Sphere]

COLD STUFF....brrrr....

(Char): Get it?!

...If I say yes, will you leave me alone?

(Dew): Yes.

Yes.

(Char): Excellent. *hops away*

(Dew): *follows*

...You'll notice I said I agreed that I understood the consequences. I never said I would stop cliffing. Okay, that means to the rest of you, get started on reviewing and I'll get started on the next chapter. It's a two way street, you know! You review for me, I post for you! Get it? Got it? Good! ^_^


	3. Secrets Revealed

This chapter was nothing more than a pain to write. I HATE writer's block...

(Dew): And a pain to read.

(Char): And a pain to be a muse for.

...Do you ever give a constructive comment?

(Dew): Sure.

(Char): Dew, go construct something I can use to hurt Omniflyer with.

(Dew): Sure thing! ^_^

0.o ...ack...

  
  


Review Responses (how did I forget these last time?):

  
  


CS: Evil is good. Well, only as far as writing goes...

Midnight C: Hey, who said Garet was dumber than Kraden? No, aside from the characters. And the programmers. And the plot developers. And we authors. And the readers. And the reviewers. And...

MercuryAdept: Hey, cliffs are good! If you don't like them, TURN BACK NOW!!

Great Saiyaman: Thank you! ^_^

0==|=R=a=g=n=a=r=o=k=: I explain a few more things here, don't worry.

Akachi: AAACCKK!! *ducks for cover from Agatio, then realizes that Pyroclasms can't be dodged by ducking* ...ouch...

QueenDragonGoddess: It's HARD to update with Writer's Block!

Jupiter Sprite: I'm posting, I'm posting!! And yes, glowing red eyes are never good.

  
  


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"So let me get this straight," Jenna said, arms folded across her chest and staring at Sheba. "You were at the plaza and got attacked by Ivan?" she asked. Sheba nodded.

"But... it didn't feel like Ivan, you know?" she posed meekly. "His eyes were a deep, deep red... and... and he seemed so... un-Ivan-like..."

"Un-Ivan-like?" Felix asked, with a slight smile.

"I can't describe it!" she rounded on him. Felix kept his gaze fixed on her with unblinking eyes, but didn't say anything else.

The group of Adepts, now seven in number, were all gathered around the front stoop of Jenna and Felix's house. Isaac and Mia were side-by-side in front of the flower garden, and Garet was uncharacteristically quiet near the edge of the property. It wasn't common for him to be so far placed from Jenna, but Isaac supposed that with Felix here as well, he was just staying clear for the sake of peace. Still, he was a little too far...

Picard sat near Felix and Jenna, his silk headpiece draped over his forehead. He was paying close attention to Garet, as well, but thought not nearly as much of it as Isaac did.

Meanwhile, Sheba was sitting cross-legged in the shade of Jenna's house. Her eyes were red, not like Ivan's had been, but as though she had been holding back a deluge of tears over what had happened. It was no secret that Ivan and Sheba had become very close. Both had grown up with no knowledge of their past, and were treated differently as children because of their Adept lineage: Ivan was shunned by his peers, and Sheba was treated as a veritable goddess.

But now Ivan was being restrained, and for the first time since she met him, Sheba felt alone again. She still had her other friends, of course, but there was something comforting about Ivan, be it his ability to talk with her without words, or the similarities they shared, that drew her to him and him to her. To be suddenly shut off from that connection was disturbing to say the least.

"There's got to be some reason why he was trying to break into the weapon shop," Isaac commented. "We've got to figure out what it was, and how to stop it from happening again."

"You know," Felix said slowly, "if something strange has happened and we know nothing about it, it may not be a poor decision to go and find..." Jenna groaned, interrupting him.

"Kraden..." Jenna mused.

"Kraden," Felix smiled, with a grin at his sister. She scowled.

"Kraden," Sheba said resolutely, and stood, taking off quickly for the scholar's residence. Picard took her shoulder to slow her.

"We should probably send someone to the plaza, to see what Ivan was looking for," he said. Sheba glared at him.

"You mean me? Do you not think I can handle listening to what's happened to Ivan?" she wheeled on him. Picard flushed.

"I'm saying you may not like hearing what he has to say," he said, unwavering from his position. Mia stepped between them.

"Sheba, no one is saying you can't handle it, and Picard, she has a right to know what's happened to Ivan." The Lemurian gave a slight nod of his head and withdrew. He knew almost as well as Isaac that there was no point in arguing with Mia when she became fixed on an idea, let alone against her and the young Jupiter Adept. "We just need someone to go check on the plaza. The rest of us can go visit Kraden." Before she finished her last sentence, Garet had already risen, and with a quick hand signal that resembled a wave and a salute, took off for the plaza, wordless.

"No fair!" Jenna whined. "How come he gets to skip out on the boring lecture?"

But no one answered her. They just followed Sheba as she walked after Kraden's house.

********************

"Kraden!" Picard called, knocking on his door. "Kraden, get out here!" Picard had no problem ordering the elderly man around; after all, being a Lemurian, he was far older than Kraden could ever hope to be. After a few more knocks, the faint sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the door. Unfortunately, they were too faint to be heard by the ears of the rash Mars Adept.

"Hurry up!" Jenna cried, barging towards the door and flinging it open. She felt a little resistance as the flung it open, but didn't see anything that would serve as a proper obstacle. She looked to the end of the hall, and saw that Kraden was laying in a tangled heap in the corner. "Kraden... what are you doing on the floor like that?" Picard was gaping at her, mouth open, and Sheba and Felix had their normal objective faces set. Mia and Isaac were doubled over with laughter, but they were always in a good mood in the other's company, so the others ignored them.

Kraden, meanwhile, was slowly pulling himself up to his feet, mumbling to himself. "... blasted Mars ... think they ... knocking innocent people ... the floor ... should teach them ... elderly people..." Sheba calmly walked over and pulled him to his feet.

"We need to talk," she said quickly. "Now."

"Oh, dear..." Kraden trailed.

********************

A full hour had passed before the story had finished and all the Adepts had spoken their piece. Kraden was rocking back and forth on the tips of his feet, usually a sign that he was about to make a conclusion.

"I think..." Kraden began, but that was as far as he got before Sheba interrupted him.

"What, what?!" she burst, leaping over to him.

"I think we should go to the jail and find Ivan before we go any farther." Sheba nearly fell face-first.

The group walked (or ran, in Sheba's case) to the jails. It took only a minute as Kraden's house and the cells were so near each other, but that minute seemed an eternity to Sheba, though she reached the cells well before the others arrived there. The others walked into the room to find Sheba holding Ivan's hands through the iron bars of the cell. Their foreheads were pressed together, and a small, glittering tear was slowly leaking from the corner of her eye. Ivan was mumbling to her, and Sheba was shaking her head. They assumed that Sheba was trying to convince Ivan that it wasn't his fault, but it was hard going.

"How are you holding up, Ivan?" Isaac asked, approaching the cell. Ivan looked at him with red eyes.

"I've... seen better days," he tried to joke. But it sounded rough and hoarse.

"Kraden, can you tell us what's happening now?" Sheba pressed. Kraden looked up from a mushroom on the ground he was observing.

"Hmm? Oh, yes... quite," Kraden said, clearing his throat. He drew himself up to his full height (barely reaching Isaac's shoulders) and searched his robes for a match. "Observe," he said, striking the match. It gave off a flickering light, which illuminated the dimly lit cells.

"So?" Mia wondered. "It's a match."

"A lit match," Jenna commented.

"A lit match that isn't going to explain itself," Sheba shot at them, gesturing for them to stop talking. The two girls feigned being hurt, and then focussed on the match again.

"Note how the match gives out light," Kraden said.

"I know that," Sheba said. "How is that related?"

"Do you see what the result of the light is?" he posed.

"We can see more," Isaac stated.

"You may be able to see more, but you obviously don't understand better..." Kraden mused.

"What do you want us to see?" Felix asked.

"Ahh..." Picard said. "I think I get it!" Kraden smiled.

"I expected you would. I'm surprised you didn't figure this out on yourself!" he commented.

"What is there to understand?" Jenna wondered.

"Look at this," Picard said. "The light enables us to see around in the cave, correct?"

"I get that!" Sheba exclaimed. "What else is there to see?"

"The point is: what else isn't there to see?" Picard said.

"Huh?"

"What can you see behind Kraden?" he asked her.

"I can't see anything, of course. There's too much shado...oh," Sheba said.

"For every light, there must also be a darkness," Kraden explained. "This match gives out a light, but it cannot illuminate what is behind me, and so the spot behind me is dark." Picard nodded, and looked at the other Adepts.

"For every light, a shadow."

"Okay, but how does that apply to us?" Isaac asked.

"Come with me," Kraden gestured, and began to walk out of the cell cave. Ivan coughed. "Oh, of course..." Kraden walked over to the cell door. He drew a vial with a potion from it and poured it over the lock on the door. It shattered, and the door swung open. Everyone gaped at Kraden.

"I could have done that," Ivan said. "But..."

"Oh, stop it," Kraden said. "I know you're innocent, Sheba knows you're innocent, and all the others know you're innocent. No one cares that you've been wrongfully imprisoned."

"But..." Ivan began, but Sheba stopped him with a quick kiss. He blushed. "Okay, then."

"Now, follow me," Kraden said. He walked outside the cave and back to his house. The others followed.

Kraden walked around the side of his house and pulled a string dangling from his roof. A ladder dropped. Jenna looked in amazement.

"Why do you have a ladder leading to your roof?" she wondered.

"Sometimes you need a roof for some reasons. Rescuing a cat, experiments, getting away from it all, Mars Adepts," he added in an undertone. Jenna scowled at him.

"So what's up there?"

"A very nice view, among other things," Kraden said, grunting as he tried to heave his ancient body up the ladder. "But something you'll love to see."

"What's that?" Isaac asked, nearing the ladder.

"Let the Jupiter Adepts go first," Mia said, pulling him away. With a nod for thanks, Ivan and Sheba quickly scaled the ladder, and smiled at the beauty of the sight they saw, then grimaced as they realized what it meant.

"What is it, Sheba?" Jenna called up. "What do you see?"

"It's... the Golden Sun," she said, barely loud enough for Jenna to hear. A hush fell over the Adepts as this information settled in.

"So the Golden Sun gives off the light of Alchemy, but the more light it gives, the more shadow you get," Ivan reasoned.

"Exactly," Kraden said. "I believe you have been possessed by the shadow of the Golden Sun."

"But... that doesn't make any sense!" Felix called from below.

"And why not?" Picard asked.

"What would a shadow want with a weapon from the weapon shop?" Felix asked. Kraden shifted.

"Ah, yes. Well, you see... that may be my fault," Kraden said. "I was experimenting with alchemy, and I... kind of ended up forging a sword."

"You created a weapon?" Jenna asked unbelievingly.

"Yes, accidentally," he said uncomfortably. "But that is not the point. The point is, this weapon, if handled properly, could even be stronger than the Sol Blade which Isaac carries." Isaac's hand moved to his Sol Blade, and it glowed a little, as though defying Kraden's statement.

"But what would a shadow want with this weapon?" Isaac wondered.

"It's not the shadow, per se," Kraden said. "It's the personality that the shadow took."

"Personality?" Ivan asked. "What do you mean? This is starting to get a little creepy..."

"The Golden Sun, when it was formed, nearly had it's power drained by Alex, correct?" Kraden posed.

"Yes," Isaac said. Then his heart sunk. "Wait... you mean the shadow is..." Kraden nodded.

"Yes. The shadow is Alex, in some way or another," he said. 

"A shadow Alex?" Jenna wondered. "An... Alex-shadow? A... Shalex?" Isaac blinked at her. "What? It's the best I can do on short notice!" she said.

"So... how do we stop him?" Felix asked. Kraden frowned.

"I don't know how to stop him, to be honest with you," he said. "But I think he can only possess someone who has been exposed to great amounts of Psynergy. Seeing as how you are all the ones who have been exposed the most, from the lighting of the Mars Beacon and the rising of the Golden Sun, you all would be the ones to be possessed. And because none of you are, it is safe to say the shadow has somehow been dispelled." Jenna frowned.

"Not... all of us are here," she whispered. Before Kraden could reply, the eruption of flames from the plaza drew all the Adepts running toward it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

That took way too long to write.......

(Dew): Alex?

(Char): SHALEX?! What kind of a lame name is that?! Jenna would NEVER come up with something so STUPID!!

...Char is way too attached to Fire Adepts...

(Char): And Garet's possessed now?! That's not good either! *sobbing*

Yeah, well, we're building to the ending (hey, I warned you that this would be a short one). On the upside, I think I'm nearly over this darned writer's block, and I even came up with a plot for my next big long fic! ^_^ I love it when that happens! So let me know how this chapter was, okay? Review!!

(Dew): ANOTHER FIC?!


	4. Shalex's Vengeance

I'm back...

(Dew): After WAY too long.

(Char): *nodding* What took so long? No excuses!!

Well, firstly I have school (which gets really annoying). Second, I still have a nasty case of writer's block. 

(Dew): Smell that, Char?

(Char): Yup.

What?

(Dew/Char): The sickening stench of EXCUSES! [Ice Missile/Flare Wall]

Gaaaaahhh... that hurts... I hate these muse things....

  
  


Well, I have good news for you all. Well, I suppose it could be bad news, depending on how much you like my stories, but I hope you'll think it's good news. If you've been paying attention to what I post, you'll see that I've mentioned that I finally got an idea for my next fic. But then, I got to thinking, why finish this fic and then take forever to start a new one, when I could just continue this one with the idea I have for the next one?

That means that this fic is no longer going to stay at the original 4-5 chapters I planned for it to be. No, this will probably end up being as long as, if not longer than, Faces of War (gold points to everyone who read and reviewed that story).

So, bearing that in mind, this means that this chapter will be a semi-conclusion to the original plot of Light's Shadow, and the start of my other idea. This idea came about when I realized that I liked the name of this fic... and I realized I could torment you all for the next 13 chapters or so with the name Shalex. Shalex, Shalex, SHALEX!! BWAHAHAHA!!!

  
  


(Dew): *cowering* STOP THAT!

(Char): What a stupid name...

  
  


It was supposed to be. Anyway...

That doesn't necessarily mean you're in for a cliffhanger at the end of this chapter. But... aw, who am I kidding? I know all Mudshippers will hate it, and no, it's not meant to be a remake of what I did in FoW. That means, there will be no surprising... well, I'll let you find out for yourself, now won't I?

  
  


Oh, and there will be spoilers as to the end of the Lost Age! I warned you!!

  
  


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Flames raged in the sky above the plaza, and Isaac and company were running there as fast as their legs would carry them. A few of the civilians they passed looked in confusion as Ivan passed them by, but thankfully, no one tried to stop them.

As they neared the plaza, the temperature began to rise. 'Garet' was unleashing great amounts of psynergy.

"I'll kill him for this!!" Jenna exclaimed as she overtook Isaac. Her staff was in hand, and she was the first one to round the corner as the approached the plaza.

"You'll have to beat me to it," Mia said, running beside her.

"And you'll both have to keep me away from him," Sheba said overtaking the both of them. The three girls were well ahead of the rest of the group as they stormed into the plaza.

"Actually," Picard said, grinning slightly at the three femmes fatales. "I'm kind of worried for Alex's sake, right now..." Isaac smirked at him.

"Don't you mean Shalex?"

"Hey, Jenna came up with that dumb name, and I have no intention of using it... OW!" he cried, as a small flame shot back from Jenna hit him square in the arm. "She has good hearing!"

"And good aim!" Jenna called back. Ivan and Isaac laughed.

In all reality, though, the three ladies had the most reason of anyone to be ahead of the rest. Sheba was fighting to get vengeance, not only for what Shalex did to her the night before, but for what he had forced Ivan to do. And an angry Wind Adept is nothing to trifle with.

Jenna was fighting for the same thing. Shalex was currently causing havoc in Garet's body. Her Garet, of all people! She couldn't believe Shalex could be so obnoxious as to take over her Garet!

But perhaps Mia's reason was deeper than both of them put togther. She had once been great friends with him, Alex. She had even started to fall in love with him. But one fateful day, at the time of the Mercury Flare, he betrayed her. He left her, and on his way out of her snowy hometown, he trampled all over her broken heart. The next time the gentle healer was to see him, he would be working with Saturos and Menardi, on a quest, she thought at the time, to destroy the world. Well... perhaps gentle was not a word to be used to describe Mia now.

Garet had already burned down two buildings, and was currently in the process of rampaging through the weapon shop for the weapon Kraden had forged when the three of them reached him. Mia cast Douse, which knocked Garet painfully to the floor with a grunt.

"Hey, watch it!" Jenna yelled at Mia. "Don't hurt him!" Mia started at her unbelievingly. Emotions were running high, true, but was that any reason for Jenna to vent her anger on her?

"We've got to stop him!" she replied quickly.

"Yes, but you don't have to hurt him!" she called.

"It was only Douse!!"

"He's weak against your petty Mercury powers!"

"Petty?! I'll show you who's petty around here!!" Mia glared at her. Sheba stared at both of them and screamed.

"Jenna, get a hold of yourself!! We need to take Garet down first!" Jenna looked a little hurt, and Mia beamed at her. "And you, Mia, we're all on the same side!! Fight like it!" Mia's grin disappeared. Just then the rest of the group caught up.

"What, can't you guys keep peace without me?" Isaac smiled. The girls just frowned at him, glares that would freeze the Suhalla Desert over in an instant. "Ooo-kay... how about I just start fighting?" Picard and Ivan sniggered.

"So," Ivan said, drawing his staff and walking calmly over to Garet. "We meet at last." Garet suddenly rolled to his feet and slashed out with his sword. Ivan blocked, but it left a large dent in his staff. "Better the staff than me, I suppose. So you want to play, Garet?" he taunted. "Fine by me!" Ivan channelled his psynergy and wind began to dance around him, rippling his clothes, blowing back his small cape and ruffling his hair. Ivan raised his staff above his head and twirled it in circles, the wind growing ever fiercer. "I summon... Thor!!"

"You don't need to do that!" Jenna cried, but Felix placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Watch. He knows what he's doing."

The intimidating form of Thor appeared over head. He swung his mighty hammer, and great bolts of lighting arced towards Garet. Garet called up a wall of flame, which somehow managed to dissipate the bolts. But in his haste to defend himself, he didn't notice Ivan sneak up behind him. Ivan placed his hand on Garet's back and called "Spark Plasma!!" Garet was overcome by bolts of electricity and slumped.

"Well...that was easy enough," Felix commented. "I didn't even need to draw my sword."

"Yeah..." Jenna looked down. "But how do we get Shalex out of him?" The others winced, not because they didn't know how to free their friend, but because Jenna had said the name again.

"I think..." Ivan began, but stopped abuptly. Sheba looked curiously at him.

"What?" she wondered. Ivan said nothing.

"Ivan...?" Isaac asked. Ivan closed his eyes and walked toward Sheba. She looked curiously at him. "Sheba, get away!"

"What? Why?" she asked in confusion, but Ivan had already opened his red eyes and swung at her with his staff. She stumbled to one knee.

"He switched bodies again!" Picard cried.

"How are we supposed to beat him?!" Jenna cried. "He can just jump whenever we get the edge on him!" Isaac furrowed his brow.

"There's got to be a way... there always is... always!"

"Well, whatever it is, we need to think of it fast," Felix said, sparring with Ivan. "Before he..."

"Before he wha- Ivan, look out!" Mia cried, noting Ivan's eyes return to normal and the sudden crimson shade in Felix's. Only Ivan's Jupiter gifted speed saved him, and he ducked out of the way of Felix's swipe. He rolled back to Sheba and helped her up.

Isaac ran over to Garet and cast Revive. He rose slowly and, after inquiring to where he was, noted Jenna fighting against Felix. Obviously it was a lot to take in.

"Gee, Jenna, I know you like me, and I know Felix doesn't want us together, but are you sure fighting him is the only way to resolve it?" Jenna, in mid-spin from a dodge, clipped him over the head with her staff. "OW! Yes, huh?"

Jenna nimbly dodged two of Felix's slashes, but the third caught her in the leg. She limped away over to Mia. The healer rushed over to assist her. "Don't worry, Jenna, I've got you covered," she smiled. Her hands glew blue as she began to cast Ply Well, but Jenna's eyes went wide in terror as she saw Mia's serene aqua eyes go red, and the Ply Well turn into a point-blank Ice Missile attack. Jenna screamed and dropped at Mia's feet.

"He's got Mia now!" Picard cried. Isaac gripped his Sol Blade.

"Now it's personal!!" he roared, drawing it from its sheath and letting its light overtake the store.

"Oh, thanks a lot," Garet said.

Isaac dashed toward Mia, ducked under one staff swing, jumped over the second, and rolled around a third. He landed right beside Jenna, cast Revive as quickly as he could manage, and then flipped away from Mia's attempt to stop him. Then he placed the Sol Blade back in its scabbard and waited.

"Is that it?" Ivan asked. "All the theatrics, the drawing the sword, the light, the fancy moves... that's all you're going to do?" Isaac smiled at him.

"Of course. I'd never fight Mia," he said. Ivan slapped his forehead.

"Hopeless..."

Shalex-Mia, however, seemed to have no problems fighting Isaac. She dashed towards him and leaped. Before she struck, though, she stopped and landed. Her first sight was a red-eyed Isaac drawing the Sol Blade in front of her. Mia gasped and leaped back as the first strike came far too close to her stomach.

"This is starting to get way too frustrating..." Picard said. "Is there no way to beat him?" Before he had finished his last word, however, Isaac stopped moving. He bent to one knee, and then fell to both knees, and then arched his back and screamed to the sky. A huge cloud of darkness escaped from the orifices on his face, and it settled before him and formed into a familiar shape.

"Alex!!" Mia cried through gritted teeth. "How dare you show your face here...!"

The cloud had become Alex. Though he still had the same long blue hair and icy, penetrating gaze, that was where the similarities with his old self had ended. He was clad in a long tunic, black and light blue in colour. His pants were pitch black, and his boots were of the same colour, though with stripes of blue racing down the sides. Looking closer at his gaze, Mia realized it wasn't the same after all. They were a deeper blue, and if you looked far enough, there was a pool of blackness hiding behind them.

"I show my face quite easily here," he yawned, "though it is ever so much more amusing to appear as yours." He turned to face Isaac. "Thank you ever so much, Isaac. Your slight absorption of the powers of Alchemy have worked well with my own, allowing me to phase back into a solid form of existence." He stretched, as though getting used to his own body again.

"Save your melodramatics for just once, Alex," Isaac groaned, slowly rising from his spot on the floor. "What do you want?"

"Why, nothing more and nothing less," he said smoothly, "than this." He strode over and in one fell swoop before anyone could stop him, grabbed an elegant and powerful sword. "Kraden's famed Sword of Hilda. Pity how he named it so poorly." Garet fumed.

"I remember Hilda. She was a great woman! She and Kraden were so happy before the boulder incident..."

"I thought no one died that night," Picard asked. Jenna shook her head sadly.

"Hilda wasn't killed by the boulder... she was killed by the stress of that night. She couldn't take all the excitement. She had a heart attack."

"Kraden became totally obsessed with alchemy after that," Isaac informed them. "It was something to take his mind off her."

"So Kraden wasn't always..." Picard trailed.

"A moronic, babbling, senile old fool? No, he wasn't," Alex said, and the others glared at him for his blatant disrespect of Kraden.

"Enough Alex!" Mia cried. "We've beaten others before, we'll beat you, too! We'll beat you so you can never bother us again!" She charged at him, all the anger she had ever felt for him culminating into this one attack. Alex smiled.

"My name is not Alex, you fool!" he laughed, grabbing her by the neck. Mia choked. "I am Shalex!!" He threw Mia toward Isaac, who caught her carefully and sunk to the floor with her as she gasped for air.

Meanwhile, Jenna, of course, was crowing to all within ear distance. "Did you hear that Picard?" she laughed, punching him on the shoulder.

"I wish I hadn't," he groaned.

"Now, as for you," Shalex said, pointing at Isaac with the Sword of Hilda. "Alchemy's full power is split between you and I. And I want it back!!"

Isaac kissed Mia quickly and rose to face Shalex, Sol Blade in hand. "The full power of alchemy will be on the line in this fight, but it will go to me," he said. "And I will use it to protect this land!"

"Fool," Shalex spat. "The power can be used for so much more... and it will be! We battle!"

Alex charged at Isaac and slashed with the Sword of Hilda. Isaac could see why Kraden had said it could be the most powerful blade ever. He buckled under the onslaught, but came back ready for more.

"Is that all you can do?" Isaac taunted, pushing Shalex back. "Come on, surely you've got more than that!"

"More than you'll ever know!"

Isaac swung vertically, but Shalex blocked and knocked the Sol Blade out of position. He stabbed, and Isaac twisted to avoid it. Shalex slashed horizontally, hoping to decapitate Isaac, but he was too fast, and he ducked.

Shalex then cast Froth Sphere. Isaac managed to dodge all but the last two spheres, which struck him. The bubbles damaged him, but they also slowed him down greatly, as the bubbles had the unfortunate effect of turning the dirt they were on to mud. Behind him, he could hear Mia struggling to remove her own feet from the sticky substance, but focussed more on saving himself.

Shalex took swing after swing, but Isaac, still with his foot stuck, managed to block each one. He cast Spire to force Shalex back. He recoiled, and Isaac had enough time to free his feet.

"So, it's a psynergy battle you want?" Shalex mocked. "Then beat this!" he called. His hands glowed a deep blue. "Ice Missile!" Isaac was ready for the block, but he was shocked to see Shalex point his hands towards a totally different person.

"Mia!!" Isaac cried. "Move!!"

"I can't!" she cried, still frantically trying to pull her feet from the ground. Isaac flew towards her, reaching her mere moments before the shards of ice did. Isaac realized that he couldn't get her out of the way in time.

So instead, he turned to face Shalex and the Ice Missile attack. He threw his arms out and took every single shard himself. Mia remained perfectly healthy.

"Isaac!!!" she cried. "No!!" Shalex laughed as Isaac slumped to Mia's feet, bleeding badly.

"Mia..." he groaned. "I love you.... Mia..." but he was to say no more.

"Isaac!!" she cried. "I won't let you die!!" she screamed glowing a brilliant blue shade. She called up every last channel of psynergy she had, and her power took over her whole body. "Pure Ply!!" she cried, taking over Isaac's body with a blue light as the familiar crowd of fairies sprinkled their healing dust over her whole body.

And when it ended, Isaac was no longer bleeding.

But he wasn't breathing either.

"Isaac....no, no, please, no," Mia whimpered. "Please, no..." Shalex laughed and raised his hands to Isaac. A white psynergy flowed from Isaac to Shalex, and he laughed.

"All of Psynergy's power is now mind to command. Fear me now, mortals... I am immortal!!!" He rose to the sky and began to fly away. Mia gritted her teeth.

"Shalex... I don't care where you run!!" she cried, tears running down her cheeks. "I will find you!!! I will extract vengeance for this!!!" Shalex's mocking laughter could be heard as he flew off into the world.

"You can never stop me now, Mia!! None of you can!" he called back. Mia threw her head back and screamed at him.

"SHALEX!!!"

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(Dew): You evil...

(Char): NO!!

(Dew): ...sadistic...

(Char): I can't believe you!!!

Oh, it's not that bad. Just think of it as... the start of a journey.

(Dew): ...corrupted...

(Char): But you killed Isaac!!

Yeah, and don't think I'm going to pull some Wise One-induced revival thing here. He's dead.

(Dew): ...demoralized...

(Char): You know everyone will kill you for this, RIGHT?!

^_^;; Well, that and for the use of the word 'Shalex'.

(Dew): ...author-wannabe. I will kill you for this!!

(Char): I'll help!!!

So will all of these people reading. Remember, reading = reviewing! Reviewing = good!! Friendly reviews = good! Death threats = not-so-good, but I don't think I'm going to have much of a choice about that...


	5. The Next Trial

And you all thought I'd died...

(Char): With the amount of time it's taken you to update? I think they were wishing...

Gee, thanks... how kind you are.

(Dew): Darn right.

(Char): Dew, how's construction on the painful thing I told you to start on a while ago going?

(Dew): Oh, it's done.

eep...

(Dew): Here it is! *takes out a large machine* You put Omniflyer in here... *points to a hole the size of a doorway* ... and he comes out here. *points to a hole the size of a quarter*.

...I don't like this...

(Char): Then start writing and maybe I won't make you go in!!

Fair enough...

  
  


Review Responses (I'm going to start taking memory pills to remind me to do these... that's if I can remember to take the pills...):

Well, basically the reviews were all pretty linear, so I think I'll cover them like this...

Midnight C, Shade, Mist, Crystal, Knightblazer 88, QueenDragonGoddess, Akachi, Jenna, Hama, Karst, Agatio, MercuryAdept, Ivan of Vault, Zephyr, 0==|=R=a=g=n=a=r=o=k=, Cowpuppy and Mia: ...Owies...

  
  


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Mia watched helplessly as Shalex flew off into the distance. Tears stained her soft cheeks as she held the still Isaac close to her, rocking slowly. The others were gaping, openmouthed, tears coming to them as well. Mia buried her head in Isaac's chest, then rose to turn as Jenna laid her hand on her shoulder.

"Mia... you have to be able to do something," she whispered softly. "Please... please tell me you can do something." Mia simply stared at her, her broken-ness being reflected in the shade of her eyes. Mia's mouth moved, but no words could escape her.

"Mia," Sheba began, "do you remember when we were in Anemos Sanctum...?" Mia nodded shakily. "I didn't know how to use Tempest, remember? And then Ivan collapsed?" Mia looked down at her fallen Isaac, and sympathized with Sheba's feelings that day. Sheba continued her story, but Mia was too deep in emotion to truly hear the words.

As it had happened, deep in the catacombs of the Sanctum, Ivan was felled by a particularly nasty blow from Dullahan. Sheba was at his side before he had hit the ground, but Dullahan had already launched a plasmatic attack towards them. If the attack struck Ivan, he surely would have died, too quickly for Mia to heal and too far for Isaac or Felix to Revive. Sheba, summoning all of her courage, held Ivan's hand, closed her eyes, and relied on his fading spirit to guide her. She managed, for the first time, to cast Tempest, which was strong enough to blow the offending attack away, and saving Ivan's life by buying Mia enough time to get there and heal him. Mia, remembering what had happened, looked up.

"Do...do you think that I..." she wondered, looking at Sheba through tear-stained eyes.

"Yes," she said with a weak smile. "You can do it, Mia... use him to help you cast Revive." Felix frowned.

"I could have done that. He's too far gone for Revive," he said, but soon regret it as Mia's face broke again and she seemed on the verge of drowning them all in a deluge of tears. Jenna, however looked at him furiously.

"Just because you can't do it doesn't mean she can't!" she snapped. "Mia is closer with Isaac that you can ever hope to be. She can use her bond with him to help!" Mia looked at her with a look of gratitude. Jenna nodded. "Bring him back to us."

Mia decided not to waste any more time. She lowered her gaze to stare at Isaac and took his hand carefully. It was still faintly warm.

She closed her eyes and reflected on Isaac. Something, some hidden instinct buried deep within her that she couldn't deny, began to draw a yellow light from Isaac's body. It basked her in a golden light that reminded her of the warmth that she felt whenever he was with her in person. Or at least, in person and alive.

Mia prayed to Mercury with all of her heart and all of her strength, and slowly, in the back of her mind, she felt a new power begin to rise within her.

Distantly, she could hear a faint voice speaking. "What if she cannot handle it? She is not of this element. She does not have the power." And then, another.

"Have faith. She is a child of the water, and a chosen child of Mercury. She will do."

Mia wondered what these voices meant, but put them out of her thoughts. All that mattered right now was bringing Isaac back.

  
  


'Please...let me do this... just this once...'

  
  


Mia lowered her hands over Isaac and a golden glow, the golden glow of Venus, overtook her. It shimmered over to him, and slowly, ever so slowly, it receded. And when it did, Isaac's chest slowly began to rise and fall.

"Isaac-chan!!*" Mia cried. She threw her arms around him and cried into her shoulder. She pulled back and kissed him lovingly, and then pulled him close into a long embrace again. The others all watched them, expressions of joy on their faces. Isaac stared deeply into Mia's eyes.

"Mia..." he whispered.

"Oh, Isaac..." Mia trailed, but Isaac cut her off.

"You fool..." he muttered. Mia jerked like she'd been slapped.

"Isaac...? Isaac, what...?' but that was all she could say before everything around her began going black. Her friends, the weapon shop, it all faded into blackness, until the only thing she could see was the form of Isaac. She tried to grab him for support, but he withdrew back a step, and his form began to twist and morph.

Mia screamed in horror, as the one she had worked to hard to bring to her, the one she had kissed and loved changed slowly from Isaac into Shalex. Shalex snickered and then burst into all-out laughter.

"You fool!!" he laughed, flying into the distance. "You fool!!"

********************

"Shalex!!" Mia cried as she bolted upright. She took in her surroundings. She was back in her bed. The covers were strewn about, mostly on the floor now. It was raining heavily outside, occasionally the sound of thunder piercing the silence.

It was the night after the disaster, when she was helpless to save the one she loved. Mia shook at the memory.

Mia swung her feet over the side of the bed and staggered to her feet as though she was going to be sick. She stumbled to the window, but then turned away quickly when she remembered that she had her house specially built so her window overlooked Isaac's house.

She looked back to her bed and realized she had a snowballs chance in the Suhalla Desert of getting back to sleep. So, she dressed herself, found an umbrella and stole out into the night of Vale.

The rain pounded against the umbrella, but she ignored it. She forced her way against the wind along the many twisting paths of Vale. Eventually, she came across the place that she wanted to be.

Kraden's hut.

She didn't bother to knock, but burst in. Thankfully it was unlocked and Kraden was conveniently completing an experiment.

"Kraden," Mia said darkly, not quite a threatening tone, but one that lets you know the speaker wasn't in any mood to joke around. "We need to talk." Kraden looked up at her curiously.

"Well, I just need to clean up this little bit of..."

"Now."

"...of course, that can wait."

"I want to know...you know more about Alchemy than any other person alive." Mia stated.

"Almost any person," Kraden said, referring to Shalex, who indeed was mostly Alchemical power, making him the expert on the topic. Mia stared at him dangerously.

"Not now," she said, and Kraden quickly shut his mouth and took a step back. "You know all about how Alchemy and life interact... please, is there any way to revive Isaac? Please, if Alchemy is the source of all life, it must be able to restore it to, right? Please, tell me it can!" she said, close to hysterics again. Kraden chose his words carefully, knowing that anything he said that wasn't what Mia wanted to hear when she was in a dangerous mood could be quite hazardous to his health, anyone within a 5-kilometer radius, and, most importantly, his experiments.

"My dear, if we could bring people back so easily, we surely would have done it by now, don't you agree?" Mia glared at him. "That's not to say it's... impossible, but I just don't know how. Mia, I want to, but I simply can't." Mia's eyes narrowed and Kraden prepared for the coming storm of anger, but it never came. Mia's knees simply buckled and she fell to the floor, tears staining its wood finish.

Kraden let her cry for about five minutes until he finally got the nerve to attempt consolation. He crept forward and began to speak. "Um... Mi-"

Mia rose from the floor with frightening speed. There was no hint of the gentle healing, protective angel that others had seen there. Though Kraden supposed the angelic quality was still there, she was now more of an avenging angel than anything. She rose from the ground with her head faced down and her eyes overshadowed by her hair. The temperature in the hut dropped considerably and Kraden gave an involuntary shudder. The ends of Mia's hair began to float slightly, and Kraden mused over how she could look so beautiful and yet so deadly at once.

"Fine, then," she said softly, tears dripping down her face, eyes still overshadowed. "Just tell me... tell me how or where I can find Shalex. I will chase him to Gaia falls and beyond if I need to! I will make him pay for what he did!!" Mia's hair was floating furiously now, and some of Kraden's random liquid-related experiments froze solid. Kraden sighed, then took a further step back.

"Very well. Come with me," he said, gesturing to the back of his hut. He scrambled around for awhile, and then furiously dug through some old scrolls. It took him so long that the storm had passed. Dawn was slowly coming, and the Golden Sun was beginning to glow its more brilliant shades again in accordance with the time. Finally, Kraden gave a cry of enthusiasm and leaped up, clutching an old scroll. "Here we are," he said.

"What's that?" Mia wondered, leaning in for a closer look.

"This is an old scroll of Alchemy. It lists the steps one must undergo if they wish to understand its power," he explained.

"Why do we care about understanding it?" Mia wondered. Kraden smiled.

"Through long, detailed research, I have discovered that it is not the understanding of alchemy that one achieves by following these steps."

"What is it, then?" Mia wondered.

"It is the power of Alchemy. What Shalex," he shuddered slightly, "now has. Or rather, what he nearly has."

"I thought he had it all," Mia wondered.

"Not quite," Kraden explained. "Look, read the scroll..."

'Ye who wish Alchemical Might

Read this, and then none more.

Go forth and by your hand, light

The lighthouse beacons four.

If then this task ye should succeed,

Then atop Mount Aleph's peak,

Ye will see what is here to read:

The treasure of the meek.

The Sun which holds most of the power

Of Weyard's Elements,

To get the rest, climb all the towers

So your power is not spent...'

"I don't understand..." Mia said.

"Come, then," Kraden said. "Let us go to my roof for a moment."

The two walked outside and Kraden pulled down his special ladder. Mia climbed up and then assisted the elderly Kraden to the top.

"Thank you," Kraden said. "I'm not as young as I used to be..."

"Why are we here?" Mia asked.

"Just look over there," Kraden said, gesturing to the Golden Sun.

"What about it? Mia wondered.

"The Golden Sun is the representation of all of Alchemy's power," Kraden explained. "It is sort of a balance between the two panoptic Elements, Sol and Luna, which aren't really elements, but more like governing entities." Mia nodded to show she understood. "But because the Golden Sun is mostly Sol and Luna, it cannot be entirely of Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and, of course, Mercury," he said with a small smile towards her. Mia grinned slightly, despite herself. "So, then main powers of Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter are restrained..." Mia cut him off.

"'...climb all the towers'... they're restrained atop the Lighthouses, aren't they?" Mia said.

"Yes. Shalex's power is indeed powerful, nearly invincible and invulnerable, not to mention he can now easily cast spells of every element, but it is not limitless. If he does manage to take the elemental powers from each lighthouse, however, his power will be limitless. He will never run out of Psynergetical Power," Kraden finished. Mia looked down.

"How can I stop him if he's that strong...?" Mia whispered. Kraden reprimanded her.

"You can stop him. He isn't unbeatable yet!" he exclaimed. "You can still stop him. Just try and remember why you're doing this!" Mia nodded.

"Isaac..." she whispered solemnly. Kraden stared at her.

"I was going to say for all of Weyar..." he said, before an icy glance from Mia cut him off, and he realized that he couldn't take a step back, being on the edge of the roof. "Yes, of course, you're right. For Isaac."

Mia looked away, dawn now having fully arrived. The Golden Sun was beaming brilliantly, and Mia was reflecting on her past, and preparing for her greatest journey.

"I will not fail you...

"Isaac..."

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Another chapter in the vault.

(Char): Oh, hooray...

(Dew): I'm overjoyed...

If you hate it that much, leave!

(Char) I wish...

(Dew): We could if you stopped writing!

Oh, be happy! I didn't cliff this time.

(Dew): Well... I guess so. What happened? Lost your touch?

(Char): Quiet! Don't provoke him to!"

(Dew): I'm not scared of him! I've got the crunching machine!

*cringing*

(Dew): What do you say to that, Omniflyer?!

...Shalex.

(Dew/Char): IT BURNS!!

  
  


Well, to the rest of you, review, and I'll get started on the next chapter. Eventually. Sometime. With cliffhange... I mean, without cliffhangers. Yes, without. (Bwahahaha...)

  
  


*Isaac-chan entirely belongs to and is copyrighted to Midnight C. It's just that everyone, including myself, likes using it because it sounds right. It's a perfect name! So, it's not mine, and Midnight, if you don't want me using it, just let me know and I'll change it.


	6. New Journey, New Friends

Hey, I'm still alive... cool!

(Char): Not for long!

(Dew): I second that!

Darn things... that's all I need. Psychotic little sugar addicted gnats.

(Dew): We're djinn, thank you very much!

Or Imps.

(Char): (aside) Didn't you call them to change those initials?!

(Dew): (aside) I forgot...

(Char): (aside) Then we hurt him for mentioning it.

Moving right along...

  
  


Review Responses:

Cowpuppy: I beg to differ. I can and HAVE killed Isaac. Not that that's anything to be proud of...

Ivan of Vault: In the words of one Strong Mad: RAWG-raa...

Griffinkhan: I'm happy you like it! And to answer your question, the Ice Missile attack was indeed fatal to Isaac. Her dream was not reflective of Isaac being swallowed up, but rather how it was Shalex that stole Isaac from her through death.

Knightblazer 88: This chapter is actually a lot of filler too, sad to say, but no worries, I've got some major action scenes coming up soon. Now, what's the next review... huh? ACK! DARK SHADOW!!

0==|=R=a=g=n=a=r=o=k= : A grand adventure, huh? That would denote that I'm writing remotely well. Thank you! And congrats on beating the living daylights out of Dullahan, especially in Hard Mode. I'm still satisfied with beating him normally, thank you very much.

QueenDragonGoddess: Consider it updated.

MercuryAdept: There are days I think no one is safe from Dew and Char...

Midnight C: Isaac-chan was supposed to be a joke? Whoa...it seems to work so right, though. *shrugs* Good stuff. At any rate, I think my goal for this story should be to get 'Shalex' to be half as recognized as Isaac-chan. FEAR THE NAME!!

Jupiter Sprite: Don't worry, I'll keep the other Adepts in it. No problems there. It would be hard to write about just Mia for about 10-15 chapters. In fact, I may even add a few...

CS: Roller coasters are fun ways to write. They keep you in total suspense. Go cliffhangers!!

Akachi: Of course Mia's scary when she's angry. She's MIA. That's like saying Kraden is annoying. It's so... true!

  
  


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Picard walked slowly up the long, narrow plank that lead to the deck of his ship. The fine Lemurian vessel was among the sturdiest crafts to ever sail the seas of Angara, due mainly to its Psynergetic propulsion, which let it glide smoothly across the water as opposed to being subject to every crest of the waves.

Picard shifted his grip. In his hands was a very large wooden crate, loaded with supplies, mostly of food. He grunted slightly with each step he took, the weight of it bearing down on him, but he kept his pace up. Mia was pushing them all to get ready as soon as possible, and as a result, he was determined to get the ship ready to sail by noon. The other Adepts were helping, of course, but as much as he would have loved to be able to cast Move, he didn't particularly want Garet helping to load the food. Naturally, this brought Garet barrelling down the plank from aboard the ship.

"You need a hand with that, Picard?" Garet asked, trying to grab the crate. Doing so only weakened Picard's grip, and he fumbled to hold onto it.

"No... no, really, it's fine," Picard said quickly, trying to move forward, but the short-sighted Fire Adept was absent-mindedly blocking his path.

"No, really I can help you with that," Garet said, all too eager to get the food on board. He tried to grab the crate again, but only succeeded in making Picard drop it. It fell right on Garet's large foot. He promptly pulled it away and hobbled back on his good foot, while massaging his bad one. Unfortunately, his lack of co-ordination caused him to overbalance, and he toppled over the edge. Picard glared at him, although he was struggling to keep from laughing.

"I told you I could handle it myself," he smiled. Garet spluttered.

"Picard! Help me, please!! I don't like water!!" he cried.

"You don't like water?" Picard asked with an air of false injury.

"Water is terrible stuff!" Garet shot back. It's full of disgusting little creatures and everything is so... wet!!" Picard frowned at him.

"So you really hate water?" he scowled, taking this as a personal insult to his own element.

"Absolutely! I mean I'm a Mars Adept, I... Picard? Why are you glowing blue? Why is your hand outstretched? Why..."

"Douse!"

"Ack!!" Garet cried as he was rained upon by a heavy flood of water. Picard smiled to himself and went to pick up the crate, but Garet rose to the surface, a picture of mock hatred on his face. "So that was funny, huh?" Garet called up. Picard nodded. Garet raised a rand to him and called, "Flare!" Unfortunately for Garet, his aim was off, and instead of singeing the Lemurian, he blew up the food crate.

"Hit the deck!" Picard cried to Ivan and Mia on the boat while he ducked to the plank, as food was sent flying in every direction.

"No!!" Garet cried. "The food!!" An orange fell and hit him square on the head. He dipped under the surface and rose again to see some fruit floating nearby him. "The food!!" he exclaimed happily, as he started eating everything in sight. Picard sighed and walked back down the plank. Thankfully, he still had a crate of food waiting to go. He wondered how many of crates of food he would have to prepare before he could get one on the boat.

********************

Shortly after noon, the ship was fully stocked and ready to sail. It was docked on one of Angara's many rivers that lead to the open ocean. Kraden called out to them from the shoreline. He wasn't joining them, as he claimed he still needed to do some work on the Golden Sun, though Ivan thought he was simply scared of Mia.

"Remember," Kraden called, "Alex is much more powerful now!"

"Shalex!" Jenna called back, correcting him. Kraden shuddered.

"Ah... yes... he's much more powerful. He may have new abilities I know nothing about!"

"Nothing?" Ivan shuddered. It was bad enough earlier when they had no idea what was happening to him, but now they were going into a total unknown situation against an enemy that was a Psynergetical demigod. How could they fight that?

"Yes!" Kraden said. "And remember, the Sword of Hilda is a legendary blade!"

"Blowing your own horn a little, Kraden?" Sheba joked.

"This is no laughing matter! That sword is immensely powerful! You need to watch yourself carefully!"

"Anything else, Kraden?" Mia asked hopefully.

"Shalex can also cast Psynergy spells of any element," he warned. "That means he can heal himself with Mercury, foresee events with Jupiter, and destroy things with Mars!"

"What about Venus?" Mia wondered.

"Venus works best with other people there to use it for," he said. "That may very well be his weak spot," he answered. Kraden fixed his glasses. "I believe that is all I can tell you."

Garet feigned fainting. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard that..."

"Then let's go," Mia said, moving to take the helm. She took the wheel with ease and activated the Black Orb. The boat hummed with Psynergetical power and sailed off for parts unknown.

********************

"Here's a question," Felix asked, lounging on the deck. "Where are we going?" Jenna turned to answer him, then fell silent.

"Good question. Mia, where are we going?" Mia kept her focus on the boat.

"The Lighthouse," she answered simply.

"Uh... which one?" Sheba questioned. "There are four, you know." Mia withdrew her hand from the Black Orb and paused.

"Oh. I forgot about that..." she trailed. Picard pointed ahead.

"The ocean is there," he said gesturing ahead to where the river they were on lead out to open ocean. "We have to decide."

"I can't believe this," Mia said. "We don't even know where to start...!" She pounded her fist against the wheel in frustration. "Where are we going?!"

"Mars Lighthouse," called a distant voice.

"What...?" Ivan asked. "I know that voice..."

"Me, too," Garet said. "Check it out," he said, pointing over the edge of the boat.

Standing on the riverbank, staff in hand, was a young girl of about 17, with purple hair and staff in hand. She looked very beautiful and official, with the wind ruffling her hair and clothes. Behind her stood a larger man, with a sheathed sword. He looked like a formidable fighter, but then, Garet, Ivan and Mia already knew he was as they had seen him fight before.

"Feizhi!" Ivan cried, leaping to the side of the boat to greet her. Feizhi was a Wind Adept, like him and Sheba. Though she had not started life as an Adept, after the transfer of the Reveal Psynergy by Master Hama unto her, she began to develop the trademark characteristics of a Jupiter Adept. Felix didn't know how much her power had developed since he saw her last at Champa, but she looked extremely well travelled.

"And that's..." Garet said, blinking. "Is that you, Sean?" He nodded.

Sean was a warrior that Mia, Ivan and Garet had met on the boat across the Karagol sea to Colosso. At the time, Sean was dead-set on participating in the tournament, but in a bizarre twist of fate, he was unable to compete, and instead, Isaac was forced to enter and he ended up winning the entire tournament.

Sean himself, however, was no weakling. He was a truly gifted fighter that fought off waves of cuttles without the use of Psynergy.

"What are you doing here, Sean?" Ivan asked of him.

"Well... I kind of was... recruited," he said. "But it's more Feizhi's story to tell than mine."

"May we come aboard, please?" Feizhi asked politely.

"Of course," Picard answered, lowering the ladder.

"Thank you," she replied, daintily climbing the rungs. Sean followed quickly.

"What were you saying about Mars Lighthouse?" Mia asked of her.

"That is where you will find this... Shalex character," she mentioned with a glance at Jenna, who smiled. Before Mia could say anything else, Feizhi added, "And yes, I intend to follow you for the time being, so you may start moving now." Thankful, Mia promptly started the boat moving in the direction of Prox, and Feizhi sat down to relate her story.

"I had a premonition a few nights ago. It told me you would be here today, and that I must follow you," Feizhi said.

"Why?" Garet asked. Feizhi seemed to search for an answer, but before she could answer, Ivan interjected.

"Premonitions are a tricky thing to understand," he commented. "Even I don't know why I follow mine." Sheba smiled and nodded.

"It's just something you have to do," she agreed.

"Thank you," Feizhi continued. "My premonitions told me of this man," she said, gesturing to Sean, "and that we both must join you on this journey."

"So that's why you're here," Garet said to Sean, who gave him a thumbs up.

"You do know this is going to be a very dangerous journey," Picard said. "Don't you? I mean, we're travelling to the four lighthouses of Alchemy, to fight a demigod. That's not a walk in the park."

"I realize that I'm not the strongest one here, but I need to do this," Feizhi said. "Please, you must take me."

"What do you think, Felix?" Picard asked. Felix crossed his arms and slouched against the side of the ship.

"We're all going to be watching out for each other anyway; that's just another set of eyes to notice things," he commented.

"Besides," Sheba said, "I made a similar plea to you once, and you accepted me," she smiled. Ivan took her hand in his and smiled.

"And that was probably the best decision they made," he smiled.

"But what about Sean?" Jenna asked. "He's not an Adept at all..." Hearing his name, Sean spoke up in his defence.

"I may not be a...what did you call it? An adept?... but I have some neat tricks of my own. I don't know about this psynagy or psonergy or whatever you called it, but," he smiled, with a glint in his eye, "I can take care of myself." At the end of this sentence, he raised his hand, and a gentle breeze overtook the boat. A silence followed, and finally, Garet spoke.

"Okay, first, that breeze wouldn't hurt anyone, and second... whoa. Sean's an Adept, too?"

"And a Wind Adept at that!" Sheba smiled.

"That's four!" Ivan laughed, looking at Felix. He was going to mention the lack of Venus Adepts to him, but quickly stopped himself with a glance at Mia. She looked happy to make these new additions, but Ivan could see the hollowness in her eyes.

"Sean, we'll have to explain the whole Psynergy and Alchemy outfit to you," Picard said.

"Just be glad Kraden's not here," Garet laughed, and everyone but Sean burst out in a flurry of laughter.

"Where is Isaac?" Feizhi asked. The group fell silent.

"That's a long story..." Jenna began. Mia tried hard not to listen.

Meanwhile, the ship was pointed directly towards Prox, the winds very slowly turning colder as the boat approached the distant cold land.

********************

Sometime much later, night fell, and the Adepts one-by-one made their way to their quarters to sleep. Mia remained the only one awake, steering the ship through the ever-colder sea. As she sailed, she thought she saw out of the corner of her eye a dark figure creep past the cabin door window with what looked like a corkscrew in hand. Scared, Mia withdrew the Black Orb to her pocket, ceasing the movement of the boat, and slowly looked to the back of the ship. She saw nothing.

Worried that she was imagining things, but more scared that something was wrong, she walked around the deck, but saw no one. To her dismay, she noted the door leading below deck was slightly ajar, light seeping out. Quietly, she crept downstairs, and into the food cabin, which was the lowest room in the ship.

Mia reached inside and lit a candle for light. She thought she saw a shadowy figure in the corner, so she raced over to it, but when she got there, no one was there. She heard the stairs behind her creak and whirled at the sound, but no one was there, either. Frustrated, she sighed heavily.

Mia noticed a corkscrew on the counter and supposed she had been imagining everything. The last few days had been extraordinarily hard on her, and she supposed this was the latest in a long string of errant imaginings she had come across. She was about to leave when she felt something damp on her ankle. She looked down and gasped.

There was a hole in the boat! Water was seeping in at a remarkably fast rate. Panicking, she ran over to the counter and looked at the corkscrew. It was covered in water. There was no doubt now.

They had been sabotaged!

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(Dew): No! Nonononono! That's not fair! You steal Isaac from her, rename him Shalex and now this?!

(Char) You cruel author!

^_^ That's the way the cookie crumbles, huh?

(Dew): Cookie? Where?!

(Char): ... ... ...

My sentiments exactly.

(Char): You aren't allowed to cliffhang like that! It's not fair!

Not fair to who?

(Char): Me, the readers, and reviewers, to name a few!

Oh, yeah... all of them...

Well, go ahead and review everybody. I won't stop you! No, really, I won't. Go ahead! I encourage it!


	7. Slipping Through

I love the holidays! ^_^

(Dew): Why wouldn't you? Time to relax, see family, eat gigantic feasts and set fire to the curtains without anyone noticing.

...?

(Char): o.0

(Dew): Okay, maybe not so much that last one...

Yeah...

(Char): When was the last time you set fire to the curtains over the holidays?

(Dew): Five minutes ago.

ACK!! *dashes to the fire extinguisher and runs back, only to discover it's empty* What the...?! Now what am I supposed to do?

(Char): They say writing can stop fires...

I doubt that.

(Dew): No, it's true! Try it!

But...fire!!

(Dew): If it doesn't work, I'll buy you new curtains.

Here we go!

  
  


Review Responses:

Cowpuppy: *is buried in Picard plushies* *is trampled by rabid OBHL-ers who want them* OW!

CS: I'm not really putting in more cliffs... I've always used them (some people will tell you about Chapter 12 in Faces of War...and how I nearly didn't survive to write Chapter 13)

Ivan of Vault: The OSP is not crap. It is a collection of amazing pieces by talented authors. Soon to be amazing pieces by talented authors...and me. Go figure. ^_^;;

Knightblazer 88: It's true. No one does use Sean. Or Feizhi. It's their turn, I say!

MercuryAdept: Ah, poor Garet. When will he learn to work with his mind and not his stomach? [(Jenna): NEVER!]

Jupiter Sprite: No one could have gotten onto the boat? Interesting. Very interesting...

  
  


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Mia screamed as loud as she could, not in terror, but in an attempt to rouse the rest of the passengers. Sean was the first into the hall, and arrived just in time to watch Mia cast Frost on the water coming in, freezing it to ice, which solidified in the hole, stopping the leak. Mia's gaze wheeled on him.

"We have a saboteur!" she exclaimed, pointing at the dripping corkscrew. Sean nodded and drew his sword, dashing up to the deck to look for someone. The other Wind Adepts, Ivan, Sheba and Feizhi, came to the galley soon after, their Jupiter senses already working to tell them something was amiss. Mia filled them in on what she had seen quickly, and they all told Jenna, Felix and Picard what had occurred once they came down. Once the explanations were finally over, in his amazing sense of timing, Garet came down into the galley, and they had to explain everything all over again. Once the Mars Adept was up to speed, Sean bounded back from the deck.

"I couldn't find anyone above decks," he panted, a little tired after running all over the ship, "but I did see a swarm of Cuttles that we passed by. Is it possible they cut a hole in the hull?" he posed. Mia shook her head.

"That corkscrew is dripping wet. Someone had to do it from inside and with that," she reminded him. Sean looked at the angle of the hole.

"What if water just burst in here initially to the point where it hit the corkscrew, made it wet, and then the pressure faded so it just shot in to about your ankle's height?" he wondered.

"Highly unlikely," Picard commented. "We'd see a line of water from the corkscrew to the hole from where the pressure was fading."

Ivan furrowed his brow. "Who was awake?" he asked Mia. She shrugged.

"No one here, I think, but I thought I saw someone creeping down here. By the time I got here, the hole was already made," she sighed heavily.

"It's good you were here, at least," Sheba commented. "We'd be sunk if you weren't awake. Maybe we should keep someone awake at all times to watch out..." she recommended, with a hint of apprehension in her voice. It was a well-known fact that Sheba wasn't particularly fond of the water, and even less of sailing. Being raised in a desert left her with a certain lack of experience in water-related fields, and death by drowning was certainly not high on her priority list. Ivan caught on.

"I'll keep watch now," he offered. "We can switch later, if we need to."

"Sounds like a plan," Jenna agreed. "We'll have to do something about the boat, too. No offense, Mia, but I don't think the ice will last forever," she added. Mia nodded.

"I think it will hold until we get to Prox," she speculated, tapping the ice to test its rigidness. "We should make it there with no problem." The rest of the Adepts dispersed, heading back to their cabins. Ivan took the Black Orb and started to steer the ship again, keeping his eyes on the sea ahead, and his mind's eye on the boat.

********************

A cold, northerly wind greeted the Adepts as they woke up the next morning. Garet looked out his window to be greeted by a blinding amount of white. He quickly dressed and dashed to the kitchen for breakfast.

The other eight were all awake and beginning to eat breakfast. Garet couldn't believe his luck that he'd managed to get out of helping to make breakfast, then realized that doing so placed the task of doing the dishes solely on him. He was wondering why Ivan was using so many plates...

The nine of them docked the ship and headed for Prox. The small northern village hadn't changed much; it was still startlingly cold, but the river that was frozen over last time was ready to start flowing again, as there was merely a thin layer of ice atop it. It looked as though the weather was picking up again.

"Ah," Felix breathed in. "Springtime," he smiled, revelling in the relative warmth of the city. Garet and Jenna huddled together closer.

"Yeah, right," Jenna quipped through chattering teeth. "It's only, what, -10°?"

"Celsius," Felix shrugged off-handedly.

"Fahrenheit," she muttered under her breath.

"Kelvin," Garet chattered, turning in the direction of Mars Lighthouse. "Hurry up, it's probably warm in there..." Garet headed off to the Lighthouse, but after rounding the first corner, he plowed right into Puelle. Both fell to the ground and slipped down a small patch of ice, sliding down to the river. The ice promptly broke, and both fell into the freezing cold water.

"Garet!" Jenna cried, going as close as she dared to the water. "Are you alright?" Garet couldn't reply, the water had frozen him completely and he was having a hard time moving again. Puelle, however, swam right over to him and carried him back to shore. Garet curled up on the shoreline and shook horribly. Jenna took off her cloak and wrapped it over his shoulders, trying to get him up and to the inn. He stumbled to his feet.

"Some Mars Adepts just don't know how to handle the cold," Puelle smiled, helping Jenna lead Garet to warmth. "He'll be just fine, Jenna."

********************

The inn was plain, and the lodging room was just a collection of tables, chairs and couches. There were some tapestries hanging on the walls, but most importantly there was a large fireplace which Garet was practically sitting in. Mia wandered over every so often to deliver a Pure Ply, but other than that she was more than willing to let Jenna play nurse to Garet, much to Felix's dismay. The pair were snuggled up to each other, basking in each other's warmth and the fire. Mia suppressed a sniffle thinking about Isaac again. She distracted herself by talking to Feizhi and Picard.

"Picard has told me of your talent, Mia," Feizhi smiled at her as she approached. "I had no idea you were so well known in northern Angara." Mia blushed.

"It's nothing, really... all the members of the Mercury Clan could be described as I was," she smiled sheepishly.

"I'm not so sure," Picard said, rocking on the balls of his heels. "They seemed to like you more. You were the object of affection of every male in Imil, if I'm not mistaken." Mia blushed a brilliant magenta.

"Really, it wasn't anything," she laughed, trying not to blush as much. "I only knew Ply by that point, I mean..." Picard cut her off.

"Ivan!" he called up to the Jupiter Adept, who was deep in telepathic conversation with Sheba on a small ledge near the roof.

"Yeah?"

"Mia, by reputation in Imil."

"Angel."

"Thank you!" Picard replied, laughing at the shade of Mia's face now.

"I will hurt you one of these days, Picard," she flushed furiously at him, holding back laughter, shaking a mock fist at him.

"Yes, but then you'd just heal me, and you know it," he replied. Mia smiled, the first genuine smile she'd given in days.

********************

The next day, Garet was fully healed again, thanks to Mia's marvellous work with Pure Ply and possibly more due to Jenna's own methods of recovery. They set off toward the towering Lighthouse which was just north of Prox. To no one's surprise, once they reached Mars Lighthouse, the door was wide open.

"Shalex," Jenna breathed, causing the others to shudder violently.

"Will you stop calling him that?" Felix hissed at her, causing her to put on a fake depression.

"Why, brother," she moaned, putting on stage tears, "you don't like that name? It was my best effort and..." Felix squirmed. If anything would stop the dedicated, nearly cold hearted Venus Adept, it would definitely be hearing his younger sister cry.

"I didn't mean- " he started, but Jenna started laughing.

"You're so easy, sometimes!" she said between bouts of laughter.

"Can you two not take anything seriously?" Picard asked, which caused Felix to stare at him. "Yes, you too," Picard said. "Between Mars Adepts and you...my goodness..."

"Let's just get on with it," Ivan stated simply, cutting off the argument before it could start. "The beacon is already lit, so the elevator to the top should be in working order..." They boarded the platform and the elevator sprang to life, carrying them all to the aerie of the lighthouse.

********************

The first sight that greeted them atop the lighthouse was that of the beacon slowly being drained into Shalex's body.

"Shalex!!" Mia cried, drawing out her staff and leaping onto the main aerie surface. "What are you doing?!"

"Mia, my dear," he said smoothly, ceasing his drain of the beacon, leaving it a little paler. "Isn't it obvious? I'm simply taking the power or Mars for my own. It makes things like this," he laughed, casting a Pyroclasm at her, which she barely managed to dodge, "so much more fun."

"Is that all you have?" Mia called to him. "I've seen Garet do better attacks."

"Hey!" Garet cried, staring at her. "I was nearly dead yesterday! A little respect for the near dead, huh?" Shalex, however, didn't slow down in the least.

"Very well, Mia," he smirked at her. "We shall see the extent of your talent atop your lighthouse of constraint!" And Mia's stomach sunk when she remembered that the Mars Beacon hampered her own Mercury abilities.

"Or my lighthouse of elevation!" Jenna cried, unleashing a potent Dragon Fume, boosted by the same beacon. Shalex rolled away to dodge it, and dispatched her with a single Diamond Berg attack. Jenna sunk to her knees and couldn't seem to rise again.

Felix leaped forward to attack. He drew the Masamune as he went and slashed horizontally. Shalex smiled and drew the Sword of Hilda.

The sound of metal clinging against metal reverberated across the battlefield, and Picard leaped in to aid Felix. Shalex didn't look as though he was putting any additional effort into the fight as he nimbly dodged a slash from Picard, a slash from Felix, then kicked out and caught Felix in the stomach. The biggest surprise, however, was when the Sword of Hilda started glowing red.

"Ah..." Shalex smiled. "The unleash of Mars. What great timing." He swung the sword around laterally, crying "Syphon Soul!!" as it went. As soon as the sword connected with Picard's blade, a huge flux of energy released, and Felix and Picard were knocked back, singed badly and slow to rise. Shalex, however, looked more powerful that ever.

"How terrible," he moaned melodramatically, "I missed your bodies. No more souls for me today," he smiled wickedly.

"This is not looking favourable," Felix stated grimly as he got back to his feet. "He's good."

"I wonder how good," Garet commented, gesturing to Ivan, Sheba and Feizhi, who were all holding hands together in a circle. The three of them had gone unnoticed, but the sheer power they were gathering was starting to draw attention.

"Ready, Sean?" Feizhi managed to ask through the strain of charging. He nodded. "Good."

"Tornado!" the Jupiter Adepts cried, releasing a funnel in Shalex's general direction. Instead of attacking him, though, the Tornado shifted horizontally and stopped short. Sean jumped in the funnel and was launched at Shalex with amazing speed. Even Shalex had no time to defend himself, and suffered a deep, grazing blow across his left forearm. Sean rolled to the ground, panting and desperate to get his bearings.

"Impressive," Shalex commented through gritted teeth, casting Pure Ply on his own arm. It healed together perfectly. "I didn't think you'd manage to be able to do something of that magnitude yet. You have my applause, Ivan, Sheba, Feizhi." They said nothing in return. Shalex started to move towards them, but was halted by a rather large, albeit Mars Beacon weakened, Ice Missile attack. Shalex sunk to one knee, panting and glaring furiously at Mia.

"Do you remember that attack?" she asked him, her grip tightening on her staff. "You should. You used that attack a few days ago to kill two people." Shalex smirked. "You killed Isaac physically with it, and with him, you killed my heart."

"Aww," Shalex said, icily but with a hint of being condescending. "I'm so sorry I crushed your dreams, dear Mia. But let's not forget, he's just another Venus Adept in the world. It's much better to have more Mercury Adepts like ourselves. We're much better off without your precious, heroic, foolish Issac-chan," he spat cruelly, putting special emphasis on the name of Mia's lost true love. Mia trembled with rage.

"Uh-oh," Garet whispered to Jenna. "Even I know not to go that far..." Jenna stared at Shalex for what he said.

"How...dare... you..." Mia whispered, her every syllable trembling with pent up hostility and rage. "You... will pay..."

And she said nothing more, but gathered everything she had and the memory of everything she lost into one great attack.

"You will be the last person Ice Missile kills," she hissed. "Shalex!"

Shalex didn't react, although he did look a little nervous. "Fire against ice, then, my dear."

"Don't call me that..." Mia growled. "Ice missile!!"

"Searing Beam!" Shalex called.

The attacks collided before the Mars Beacon. It shimmered as they cancelled each other out.

"No," Mia whispered, falling to her knees as her strength failed her. "I'm sorry, Isaac... I'm... not strong enough..." Shalex laughed and walked over to her, charging a final attack in his right hand.

"Poor Mia," he smirked cruelly. "Lost her boyfriend, lost her will, lost her strength, and now...loses her life..."

The beacon started to flicker. As soon as Shalex passed it, the Beacon began to swirl violently. Shalex had only time to stare at it quizzically before it sucked him in. Before any of the other Adepts could ponder this, the Lighthouse Beacon drew them in, too.

Moments later, the only sound or movement atop the Mars Aerie was that of the northern wind.

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Well, at least the curtain fire's gone out. I dunno how, but...

(Char): What the heck happened in that chapter?!

(Dew): I'm pretty sure that beacons didn't do that when we were there...

Did you ever try?

(Dew): Well, no, but...

There you go.

(Char): What the heck happened?

Good question. You'll have to read it later.

(Char): But there's nothing to read, yet!

Exactly. I'll have to write it.

(Dew): I don't like it when that happens... *glaring*

...if I'm dead, there'll be no chapter at all.

(Char): But you can still write with a few broken bones and lacerations.

If you'll excuse me, I'll be working on Chapter 8, then...

  
  


Oh, yeah, one last thing. Review!! No, seriously. Review, or I'll sing.

(Dew): Oh, please REVIEW!!

(Char): Spare us!!


	8. The Rules Change

Oh, this chapter was long to write....

(Dew): Yeah, well, you could solve that easily...

(Char):...if you stopped writing...

Then you'd be out of a job.

(Dew): I could live with retirement.

(Char): I have an old age pensions plan...

How long have you had that?

(Char): Not that long!

(Dew): ...?

(Char): What?

(Dew): You've had it for awhile, haven't you?

(Char): Of course not! I'm still young and youthful!

How old are you, anyway, Char?

(Char): 37!

(Dew): ...hundred.

(Char): DEW!! *chasing after, glowing brilliantly*

(Dew): Gleep!! *running*

Ooooo... no muses to distract me... it might be cliffhanger time... ^_^

  
  


Review Responses:

  
  


Jupiter Sprite: Only two mysteries to wonder about? We'll have to see about that...

Akachi: *bruised, sending Agatio back with a case of Vanilla Coke under his arm* Stupid, annoying... *bolting all doors with flame-resistant titanium* This should do...for now...

Mercury Adept: So... I should start writing terrible, long suspense...?

Ivan of Vault: Nope, it's not illegal in the least.

Depressing Angel: Yup, everyone got sucked in.

  
  


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Blackness.

That was all that Felix could see. He was used to empty voids of black, sure; he'd spent three years in Prox, which overlooked the end of the world.

But this was a different kind of blackness. Even looking over the edge of Weyard, there was always something. Maybe not much, but out of the corner of your eye, you could see a quick spark of Psynergy, or maybe a crumbling piece of debris that was falling over the edge. But here, there was nothing.

Then, suddenly, with no warning, the blackness began to recede. The surroundings grew brighter and brighter until it was nearly blinding, and then receded to a pale white. Looking around, Felix could see that the rest of his friends, and Shalex, were all standing around.

"Where are we?" Jenna wondered, a strange hint of timidity showing in her voice.

"I wish I knew," Picard replied. "I have yet to ever experience something quite like this."

"We got pulled into a swirling beacon of Psynergetical power and now we wake up in a pure white expanse," Sheba recounted. "Are we de..."

"No," called a feminine voice, "you are quite alive."

The group wheeled on the source of the sound. They turned to see a floating creature, shaped not unlike a phoenix, but more of a white shade, with the occasional tinge of light blue shadowing its plumage. It was a human head shorter than Mia, but looked as though it had a tremendous wingspan.

"Who are you?" Mia asked of her. The bird turned its gentle gaze toward her, but Shalex had already stepped forward to confront her.

"I never thought I'd meet you in person," Shalex said smoothly, "Wise One." The group stared at him in confusion.

"That's not the Wise One," Ivan informed him. "The Wise One's more... boulder shaped."

"And annoying," Jenna grumbled, thinking back to their first encounter on Mars Lighthouse.

"Yes and no," the bird responded. "The boulder you refer to is the Wise One, true. However, it is not the only Wise One."

"What do you mean?" Picard inquired, furrowing his brow.

"On your world, on Weyard, there are many great land masses, correct?" She received a chorus of silent nods from the group. "These land masses have been divided into what you call 'continents'."

"I'm afraid I've yet to understand," Feizhi said delicately.

"Think of your world, Weyard, as a continent unto itself, from which you cannot see the other continents. This is because they do not exist in the same plane as you do," she responded. "Indeed, Weyard itself is only one part of a multiverse of worlds."

"A... multiverse?" Ivan frowned. "Okay, then how did we come into this?"

"It's quite simple, even for yourselves to understand," Shalex commented, ignoring the glare he received from Mia. "When my Pyroclasm and Mia's beautiful Ice Missile..." (he paused to allow her to respond favourably; she frowned even deeper at him) "connected before the beacon, they exploded against each other in a flurry of Mars and Mercury Psynergy. This great power resounded so near to the Mars Beacon, it caused it to temporarily be unable to hold onto its grounding in our world, and as such, it acted temporarily as a portal between worlds in the multiverse."

"So we're stuck in another world, now?" Sheba wondered. "How do we get back?"

"You can't, yet," the phoenix responded. "We used to have a way to send you back via portal, but it's been inactive for so long because our own shrine beacons remain unlit."

"Shrine beacons?" Garet wondered. "There are more beacons?"

"Certainly," she answered graciously. "I believe you may be familiar with a researcher in your own world named Aristotle?"

"Yes," Felix nodded, "I believe so. He was an alchemist who lived in Tolbi many years ago, right?" The bird smiled, an amazing task given it had no mouth and only a beak.

"Correct. Aristotle made a theory of alchemy. It stated that the world is comprised of the four elements of alchemy: Earth, Fire, Wind and Water," she said. Sheba frowned.

"But if we lit those beacons in our world, wouldn't their power carry over here?" she wondered.

"Partially, yes, but these beacons are not of those elements," she replied. "Aristotle's theory was considered complete upon the discovery of Venus Lighthouse. It was assumed in Tolbi that the other three lighthouses must exist somewhere. Indeed, you found them all. But there was another part to his theory that most people ignored in your world. The conditional part."

"Conditional?" Sean wondered. "What do you mean?"

"The elements combine in certain ways to produce different conditions. All conditions on your world and this one are a result of the elements reacting in some way," she answered.

"But what does that mean?" Mia wondered, still confused.

"There are four conditions that rule in the world: hot, cold, wet and dry. They may take different names in different areas, but they all boil down to these," she replied. "Hot is formed, for example, when there is a mix between Wind and Fire. Cold results from Water and Earth." Ivan nodded, catching on.

"That means that Dry forms from Fire and Earth and Wet forms from Air and Water, right?" Ivan theorized. The bird nodded.

"Precisely. If all of those shrine beacons were lit, then I could send you home. Unfortunately, they've all been unlit for too long. If you want to go home, you'd have to travel to each shrine and light the beacon yourselves."

"This routine again, huh?" Garet smiled, cracking his knuckles. "Cool. I'm in," he said, giving a thumbs up.

"I think we all are," Sean commented. "It's our only way home."

"So what's this world like, anyway?" asked Jenna, curious. "What's waiting for us out there? Is everyone like you?"

"No," she smiled. "I am to the residents of this world as the Wise One you are familiar with is to you. On your world, the Earth element reigns supreme. Here, Wind is supreme," she said, a comment which broke out great smiles in four Adepts in particular.

"So that's why Shalex said you were a Wise One..." Mia nodded, fully understanding the new game rules. "Wait, where is he?" she wondered, looking around. The rest of the group looked around, but Shalex was not to be seen.

"You are only bound to this expanse as long as you need to understand things," the Wise One informed them. "Shalex felt that he knew all he needed to, and set out to this world a few minutes ago."

"But... he's going to try and light the beacons, too, isn't he?" Ivan reasoned. "Why not just let him do all the work for us?" Garet nodded.

"Hey, yeah. He wants to get back just like we do. Why do we have to do all the work when it'll just be done for us anyway?" he wondered.

"Shalex is not just going out to light the beacons," she replied. "He's also going to cause havoc and experiment with his recently acquired abilities. You must not only light the beacons, but stop him at the same time."

"Great," Picard mumbled. "All this work and we've still got to take him out."

"How are we going to defeat him anyway?" Sheba posed. "He's amazingly strong. We barely managed to fight to a draw on Mars Lighthouse..."

"We'll beat him somehow," Mia said, determinating flashing across her eyes. Jenna looked on sympathetically, but said nothing.

"Is there anything else we should know before we leave?" Feizhi asked politely. The Wise One nodded.

"I told you before this is a Wind dominated plane, correct?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "This entire world lives above the ground as you know it. The entire world is a series of towers and such that stands or sometimes floats above the ground. The entire world is up in the sky." Felix squirmed a little, but the enthusiasm of the Wind Adepts would not be denied. They chattered on excitedly among themselves, enjoying the prospect of being up in the clouds.

"How do we light the beacons once we find them?" Mia asked.

"It's hard to say," the Wise One replied delicately. "Suffice it to say, a strong enough attack of Psynergy of the particular elements of the shrine itself should suffice to light it."

"Makes sense to me," Jenna nodded. "Let's go, then!"

"One last thing," the Wise One called to them. "The actual landscape beneath the cities in the sky is dangerous. It is adorned by rivers of lava, pools of sulfur, and even bottomless pits that spill into nothingness."

"One wrong step and it's goom-bye, Charlie, huh?" Sean mumbled.

"Goom-bye Charlie?" wondered Felix.

"Don't ask..." Sean laughed.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Jenna asked. "I'm getting impatient..."

"And a bored Mars Adept is a bad sign for any member of a decent society; let's go!" Ivan grinned. The Wise One nodded her feathered head and with a brilliant flash of light, the Adepts felt their bodies swirling around as their vision slowly began to recede. Then, nothing.

********************

"That...hurt," Garet moaned, pulling himself up off of the ground. The group was in a vast plain, which stretched as far as anyone could see. Far off in the distance were hills that rolled forever into the horizon, or so it seemed. The only deviation was a grove of trees behind them. Garet swallowed as he took in their new surroundings and his ears popped. "Hey... we're high up, aren't we?" He asked with a quizzical look at the rest of the Adepts.

"No kidding, Garet," Sheba smiled, bounding around the group with Ivan beside her, as the two took in the newfound feeling of power associated with this Wind-based plane. "She warned us the entire world here is up in the sky. Of course we're high up." She smiled at the rest of the group and joined Ivan in running off to climb a nearby cluster of trees. While Sheba was normally more reserved than Ivan could be, she seemed startlingly enthusiastic as well.

"Are we going to have to deal with them for the whole trip?" Picard grumbled audibly. Felix shifted uncomfortably, silence being his only reply. Picard smiled as he crossed his arms, taking in his former leader's newfound sense of shaking. "Is this plane getting to you that badly, fearless leader?" He joked, eyeing the other Adept slowly. Felix shook his head, then walked in the direction of the trees as well, swallowing hard. "Terrible," Picard muttered.

Felix was naturally a little bit weaker in the Jupiter Lighthouse, and felt often as though the very air itself was trying to strangle him, but here, in a plane of Jupiter... it seemed as though even the earth, once so friendly, was here to devour him whole.

"So what are we to do?" Feizhi asked of the group, looking about their surroundings. "It appears that we have nothing but hills surrounding us no matter which direction we turn." She was right, of course; there was nothing but hills to gaze upon and nothing to see beyond them, save for the section of the plains that were covered by the towering trees.

"I suppose," Mia replied, furrowing her brow and fiddling with the hem of her robes, "we'll have to choose a direction and stick to it until we come upon something helpful. Although I would love to know which direction the first shrine is in. Or Shalex," she added, in a menacing afterthought. A sudden cry stirred her out of her thoughts of retribution.

"Hey!" Ivan cried from atop the tallest tree. "It's something that isn't endless plains!" He sounded positively exuberant, and slid down the tree with ease. "There seems to be a break in this expanse past these trees... I couldn't see what was on the other side, though," he informed them.

"Seems like as good a direction as any, I suppose," Mia nodded. The group set out for parts unknown.

********************

A "break in an expanse" was hardly an apt term to describe what they came across. The Adepts stumbled upon a large cliff. Far below, they could see a mixture of solid ground and what Picard could only assume were poisonous pools of sulfur.

"Goom-bye, Charlie?" Felix raised an eyebrow at Sean. He laughed, and then looked along the edge of the cliff.

"Is that a village?" he asked. The others looked one by one, and far off into the distance, a village could be seen along the edge of the cliff. It didn't look extraordinarily big, perhaps the size of Vault, but it was someplace to start, at least.

"Great," Picard smiled. "Let's try and get there before nightfall," he suggested.

"Or you could try and just make it there, period," Shalex laughed, appearing from absolutely nowhere and narrowly missing a severe beheading of Picard with the Sword of Hilda. The others armed themselves and prepared for battle, but Ivan seemed more interested in a war of words.

"What are you after, Shalex?" he cried out. "I don't understand... we all want to get back to Weyard, but you..."

"Alas, I have much more pressing concerns," he replied, quarter-twisting around a slash from Garet and then grabbing Sheba's staff to keep it from bouncing off his head. "This world would be such a great warm up for destroying things before we get back to Weyard. Besides, a whole new world to destroy... you can't tell me that's not an interesting concept...?"

"You've gone mad..." Ivan whispered, trembling. "You're drunk on power, Shalex! You can't be serious! You don't even care about getting home, but just about destruction for no reason?"

"Oh, there is a reason," he replied. "Because I'm all powerful, people will try to rebel against me. To stop that, I would kill them once they attack me. But why should I kill them after giving them a perfectly good shot at me? I may as well just kill them all now and save us all time."

"You can't do that!" Mia cried as she launched a flurry of attacks with her staff. Surprised, Shalex fell and rolled back out of the way, taken aback by the power of the onslaught.

"My dear Mia," ("Don't call me that," she hissed), "with such power at my command, why would I want to? Besides, there's such fun to be had while we're here. Observe," he said, drawing out a black book. "Did you know the rare Tomegathericon can summon an entirely different set of monsters in this world than in the other? I prefer this one, the most..." He whipped the book open and began to chant, and a great beast began to emerge, sticking the Adepts between it and the cliff.

"I thought we had the Tomegathericon?" Sheba hissed at Jenna. Her eyes went wide.

"We do!" she called back, diving into her bag, as her hand closed on nothing. "It's right... you thief!" She shot at Shalex, who grinned.

"Consider it an extended loan, my dear. After all, where you're going... it's hardly useful to you at all," he smiled cruelly.

The creature was a great behemoth with four tentacles attached to its torso and a surprisingly small head. It looked similar to a cuttle, though it appeared to hover in air, rather than swim. It was easily as big as Picard's Lemurian ship.

"Is that a cuttle?" Sean cried.

"Can't be... it's too big!" Ivan shot back.

"Whatever it is, it's going down... hard!" Garet cried, shooting a Pyroclasm at it and dashing forward to slash with his blade. The beast simply grasped him in one of his long tentacles and threw him over the edge of the cliff.

"Garet!!" Jenna exclaimed, looking as far over the edge as she dared without falling, watching as her love receded into the darkness of the abyss. Shalex laughed and leaped over the edge after him, using his Teleport Psynergy to catch up to him in no time at all. He laughed.

"I can warp myself back to the top, Garet," he laughed. "You, however... you will hit the ground and die." He grabbed Garet around the throat and held him there, helpless, and laughed, as Garet looked into the face of anguish and cringed.

'So', Garet thought solemnly, 'death does have a face.'

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Ah, that felt good. Evil, yes, but good.

*crickets chirping*

What? No muses to hurt me? Well... this is an interesting twist.

*a sudden cry is heard and a blue and red streak storm into the room*

What the...?!

(Char): THAT WAS MEAN!

(Dew): WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

At this point... running. Bye! ^_^ *flees*

(Char): Get back here!!

(Dew): *chasing*

  
  


To all of you sitting there reading, I really want reviews for this chapter, if none else. I haven't seen anyone else use the Aristotle's model of elements in a fic yet (though it seems that's what the designers based the game on) and I want to know what you think! So, please review!

  
  


And also, it may shock you and scare you that I've started work on a parody! Beware, it's scary and funny at the same time. It's a video game crossover featuring our beloved GS crew in the world of Chrono Trigger. Go check this out; I can guarantee you'll love it. Or at least... be very scared! Go read (and review!) Golden Trigger. Right now! Run!!


	9. The New World Beckons

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

(Char): Also known as The-Chapter-That-Took-Way-Too-Long-To-Be-Posted-After-A-Cliffhanger-And-Controversial-Twist-In-The-Plot.

(Dew): ...yeah.

Good point. Pureauthor, you rose an interesting point in your review, but I don't think it's all that accurate. Firstly, Alex being revived and coming back for revenge isn't quite accurate. Alex here is just out for power, to gain the ability he was seeking all through the game but never quite achieved. As of right now, he's out to test his abilities and gain the small fragment of power he's missing.

As for the "traditional" (though I have to add, unfounded and quite dismal) Lighthouses, usually Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, you can plainly see I haven't used them at all. All I've done is taken the base model that the designers (I presume) used to develop their elemental system, and then used the other part of it, the conditional part that involves things such as wet and dry, which occur with different combinations of the elements. And, if the base elemental Lighthouse beacons were not lit, then is it not also fair to assume that the conditional beacons (which are not as impressive as lighthouses, so merely shrines) are unlit and must be reactivated as well? You'll also note that I didn't place them on Weyard itself, because there isn't a place to put them, as a player who's played both games could tell you.

And finally, give me some credit, huh? Saturos and Menardi? How unoriginal.

It would be Karst and Agatio, at least...

  
  


Ivan of Vault: What [Golden Trigger] shameless [Golden Trigger] plugging?

Sora who doesn't want to sign in: Alex isn't e8il. Maybe power-hungry, cruel, sadistic and e8il. Oh. Wait...

Ookami MX: I explained my reasoning for the shrines above (yes, I really dislike the new lighthouse idea, too... this just seemed like another way to take it in a bit of a different direction). And I'm going to have a lot of fun with this Jupiter World, don't worry about that... And by fun, I mean cliffies.

Mercury Adept: *shrugs* Long action/adventures work best for me. However, I am in the middle of a Romance/Tragedy for the OSP, so if you want me working in a different field, you may want to keep an eye out for that.

Jupiter Sprite: Seriously. Why DID we get stuck with a stupid boulder...?

0==|=R=a=g=n=a=r=o=k=: New worlds and new beacons are tricky to do right, at best... I'll try and keep it interesting (with hints of death) as we go...

Akachi: Hey, what happened to my door? Oh, hello, Jenna. That's a nice sword, Jenna. You're getting awfully close, Jenna. You're scaring me, Jenna. Now you're AAAUUUUGHH!!!

QueenDragonGoddess: Geez... all you people who hate death. Should I just kill them ALL so you all get mad at once and then I don't have to worry about it again?

Midnight C: Hmm... wait a minute... I think I remember you. Hold on... *checks around* Oh! Midnight! Welcome back! It's nice to have people reviewing, so long as they keep their sugar-addicted Venus Djinn to themselves. Hint. Hint.

Depressing Angel: Garet? Dead? Not as long as Akachi has flaming mallets of doom...

  
  


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"Garet!" Jenna cried, peering over the edge. Tears started to drip from her eyes as her love flew over the edge, with Shalex dropping close beside him. She took a deep breath, steadied herself and stepped back, readying herself for the leap of her life, but before she could step, Felix had grabbed her and held her back.

"Felix!" she cried in indignation, eyes shining with tears. Her brother didn't flinch.

"We've lost Isaac and now Garet. There's no need to lose you, too," he said evenly, always the voice of reason. Jenna, however was not in the mood for reason.

********************

Garet was close to blacking out. He was dropping in altitude fast, his ears popping as he went, and Shalex had his hand in a vicelike grip around his throat.

"Not long now," Shalex laughed. "Not long now at all. You can be carried away by death's sweet embrace," he smiled cruelly.

"I'd... rather... Jenna's," Garet quipped, finding the strength to knock Shalex's hand away from his throat. Spiralling downward in midair, Garet grasped his foe's arm and swung around to his back, putting him in a painful submission move.

"What are you...?" Shalex croaked, but the pain kept him from speaking much else. Garet chuckled.

"You may be a demigod in terms of Psynergy, but you're pretty weak when it comes to physical moves, aren't you?" Garet smiled. Shalex's eyes widened in fear, seeing the distant ground fast approaching.

"Let me go!" he cried. "Release me at once, or else-"

"Or else what?" Garet cut him off. "Or else you can't make your pitiful retreat back up to the top?" Shalex remained silent. "You see, here's the way I see it. You can warp all the way back up to the top anytime you want, can't you?" Garet tightened his grip. Shalex grunted. "But you don't want me clinging onto you, because then you'll take me with you. Anything you touch while you warp gets carried along for the ride, doesn't it?" Shalex chuckled.

"That's a rather inconclusive statement. You have no proof that-"

"You warped when you took the Elemental Stars from Isaac and I, and they stayed with you. I'm willing to wager."

"You have no proof that it works for animate objects as well as inanimate objects."

"Sure I do. The way I see it, there's two options. Either, by now, you would have warped back up top to save yourself, because you're a coward who doesn't like to put his neck on the line which means my theory's wrong, or I'm right and you're waiting to see if I'll let go of you, because you can't get out of this hold myself." Garet explained. Shalex chuckled and raised an eyebrow.

"What if I'm just stalling you, toying with your thoughts before your death?"

"You never thought highly of me, Shalex," Garet frowned at him. "I might not be as calculating as you or as smart as you, and that usually makes you think less of me. You'd never want to risk death just to have a nice chat with me." Shalex remained silent. "You have two options. You can either take me back up top with you, or we can die together." Shalex furrowed his brow, then closed his eyes, and with nary a sound, the two young men disappeared.

********************

"I'm going after him!" Jenna cried. "I won't let him... I won't..." but she gave into a flurry of tears and couldn't bring herself to say anything else. Even the giant cuttle-like beast seemed apologetic, as it was ignoring her and Felix and engrossed in battle with the others.

"There's nothing else to say," Felix said. "Look, you have to see this, sis," he offered quietly, putting his arm around her and trying to comfort her. "We have to move on. Garet's not going to just appear out of thin air over our heads."

At that exact moment, Garet and Shalex appeared above them, falling and landing quite painfully on the two siblings. In the confusion, Shalex broke free of Garet's hold, only his astronomic pride injured. He withdrew into the distance before anyone could catch him, leaving the great behemoth to do his work for him.

"Escargon, anyone?" Garet joked, getting to his feet. Before he could move, Jenna had him wrapped up in an embrace, their lips locked together. Felix turned away, going back to the battle. As soon as Garet and Jenna broke apart...

"Ow!" Garet cried, rubbing his arm. "What was that for?" he looked at Jenna curiously.

"That," she glared at him, "was for what you just put me through. And also for the fact that Escargon are snails. Calamari are squid. Or, more accurately, giant cuttles that don't know when to stay down." She strode confidently over to the battle, staff in hand. Garet just stared after her.

*********************

"Report." A low voice, almost a rumble.

"It's a leveller, sir." Different, the sound of less experience, but knowledgeable nonetheless.

"Don't lie to me."

"I cannot, sir. It's a leveller." The deep voice cursed softly, then phrased his next question delicately.

"Can we take it out?"

A chuckle, then a voice tinted with defeat. "With what? It's huge, and we have nothing."

"We have Psynergy."

"It's too powerful. The visuals coming in are amazing. It's bigger than we've yet to see."

"Any chance it was summoned?"

"A good chance. There seem to be some hints of Psynergetical trails around it. I would say there's a 73.45% chance it was summoned and not natural." He spoke more casually, as though finding refuge in the statistics.

"Very well. Dismissed."

A pause. Then... "Sir? There's one more thing."

"Very well. What do you have for me?"

"It's engaged."

"In combat?" A quizzical tone, confused.

"Yes. There seem to be nine of them. Four are obviously Wind-based, but the others are... harder to place."

"Explain."

"Two appear to be Water-based, and two, Fire-based. There is also one... Earth-based," he added softly.

"Impossible. I told you not to lie to me."

"I cannot, sir." The other voice sighed, resigned to his fate.

"Very well. If they are successful, draw them here. If not, prepare all defences to repel the Leveller." The second voice paused.

"Are we... not to help them?"

"If they're foolish enough to fight a Leveller, we can't waste our resources to bail them out. If they manage to win, we could use them. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

********************

"I think I liked the other variety of cuttles," Mia panted, dancing agilely over a tentacle snap. "They were much better when they were the size of the head of my staff."

"Yeah, but I bet you we could fry up this thing real nice," Garet commented, slashing out at a passing tentacle. "More food." The beast cried out in pain, then focussed two tentacles on the annoying spiky-haired one.

"Here's our chance!" Jenna cried, taking full advantage of her love's distraction. She began to cast a Searing Beam attack.

"Nice to see some genuine concern..." Garet muttered, as the attack cut across the beast's body, tearing it open. It writhed in agony, but counter-attacked with a mighty gust of wind that nearly blew some of the lighter Adepts over the edge.

"Earth hurts Wind," Felix muttered to himself as he aimed a Mother Gaia attack right for the spot that Jenna had torn open. The beast finally fell still on the ground as the barrage of Venus energy crushed it. It dissipated into nothingness, the Psynergy that it had took to cast it exhausted.

"Nice shot, Felix," Picard panted, trying to regain his composure. Felix shrugged.

"You see the opportunity, you take it," he said off-handedly.

"I hope we don't need to take too many opportunities like that," Sheba commented, crossing her arms as she watched Ivan take an Herb to heal a gash over his eye. Sean, meanwhile, started gathering wood.

"I dunno about most of you, but I think I can speak for quite a few of us when I say I don't feel like going anywhere for the night," he commented. It was only as he spoke that most of the group noted the twilight over the horizon. "I suggest we camp here for the night and make for the city in the morning. Another battle like that and we might not make it to the city at all." The group muttered common assent and set up camp for the night. Just as Garet was about to light the fire (and every other adept was ready to stop him so he didn't burn down the surroundings), a new sight appeared coming in from the sky.

A wooden carriage landed on the ground. There was a driver dressed in intermittent black and purple. It was drawn by two winged horses.

"Horses with wings?" Feizhi wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"A pegasus, actually. Two of them," the driver said. Feizhi and Jenna immediately walked over to the creatures and began stroking their manes.

"They're absolutely gorgeous..." Jenna whispered. The pegasus lowered its head and rubbed against her torso affectionately. Jenna hugged it warmly. Garet watched.

"You wish," Felix said, cracking a rare smile.

"Yes. Wish," Garet replied, looking away slowly. Felix glared at him, but the driver cut him off before he could say anything.

"I need to request you come with me," he informed them.

"Why should we come with you?" Picard asked.

"My name is Mokol, of the Keunam Fighters," he replied.

"The Keunam Fighters?" Mia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You've never heard of us?" he wondered.

"We're new to the neighbourhood," Ivan replied. The driver looked confused, but said nothing.

"Very well. Please, come with me. My superior can fill you in once we arrive at Keunam. That's the city you can see over there."

"Well, we did want to go there anyway," Jenna pointed out.

"It would be rude not to accept," Feizhi offered.

"You two just want to be with the pegases longer," Sheba smiled.

"When in Tolbi..."

"Okay, get your things, everyone," Picard said. "Let's head for Keunam."

********************

The next five minutes were a scramble of activity to gather any dropped items and cram onto the carriage. Thankfully, it was surprisingly roomy inside. The takeoff was smooth, and the ride was startlingly fast. Everything went smoothly until there was a sudden snapping sound.

"What was that?" Ivan called to the front.

"The rein!" Mokol cried back. "It's snapped! I don't understand how, it can't have just broken, it's too sturdy!"

"Was it cut?" Mia cried up.

"It must have been!" he answered. The carriage shook violently as the pegases went in two different directions, causing it to swivel and suddenly drop in altitude. "Hang on, we're going down!"

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(Char): Was that another sabotaging?

(Dew): That better not have been another sabotaging.

Don't look at me. I'm still a little loopy from some of the last cliffhanger's beatings...

(Char): And you think you'll be safe this time around?

Sure! I have this! *holds up a sewing needle* Back, evil beaters! I have a needle! And it can see you!!

(Dew): It's inanimate. It can't see anything.

Sure it can! It's got an eye!

(Char): ...someone PLEASE hurt him just for that...

I don't think you have to worry about that.

To the rest of you... REVIEW! ^_^


	10. Mokol's Plans

Yes, we have no bananas. We have no bananas today.

(Char): I hate that song...

(Dew): There's only one thing more annoying than that song.

(Char): What's that?

(Dew): The 'bam' guy on the Pop-Tarts commercials.

Hey, I like that guy!

(Dew): Yes, but you're a moron. Hence, you're wrong.

...oh, yeah.

(Char): Just get on with it... the faster we get through this thing, the better...

All right, then, here we go.

Review Responses:

Midnight C: Don't worry... I'm actually coming to a small stretch of cliffhanger breaks. I like to throw a few in because, as you pointed out, incessant cliffs lose their effect and just bother everyone. It seems by popular consensus that I'm a chapter too late, though: the last chapter's cliffhanger was greeted with general annoyance, not suspense. Sorry, everyone!

By the way, send Shade my best... with you down to only two muses, your evil author ability might do... uhh... evil things. ...yeah.

Jupiter Sprite: Falling is a common threat, it seems. I'll have to find a new problem. Like... flying! Yes... the Adepts all fly and then... forget how to fly and then they fall! ...crap.

Charmione: Okay, the whole persuading-my-muses-to-'persuade'- me angle? It's not workin' for me. Not at all.

Depressing Angel: I know... I'm breaking off from cliffs for a chapter, maybe two, don't worry about it.

Akachi: Isn't that good, then? If the joke burns, wouldn't you enjoy that? I mean, you like fire. And burning. And more fire. So if something burns, it's probably using fire, or at least heat. So the joke burning is good, because you like burning. So, I'll start looking for more groaners. Thanks for the advice, Akachi! ^_^

And keep Jenna away from me!!

Mercury Adept: I already submitted the OSP, in case you're interested, so all that's left is for Vilya to post it. And yes, it is Tragedy/Romance/Angst. And don't kill me for it. No, seriously, leave me alone. No, put that beating stick down. Down, I said. No! No! Auuuuugh!!

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"Hold on tight; it's gonna be a rough landing!" Mokol cried over the howl of the wind. Garet held tightly onto Jenna, and Ivan started focussing his Psynergy in the hopes of creating an air cushion to soften Sheba's fall. The fall to the ground felt like eternity, but the ground closed in on them eventually.

However, Mokol seemed to be prepared for any occasion. A split second before the carriage crashed to the ground, he summoned a huge upwelling of air that caused the ten of them to temporarily float in mid-air, merely a foot off the ground. With their fall stopped, he slowed the wind and they all dropped the final foot onto the remains of the wrecked carriage. Ivan ripped his cape on the splinter of a wrecked wheel spoke, and Feizhi twisted her ankle, but aside from that, the group suffered no harm upon landing.

"What was that supposed to be, Mokol?" Jenna burst, brushing the dirt out of her hair.

"I apologize," Mokol bowed. "That is the first time that has ever happened to one of our carriages."

"And it conveniently happened when we were on it," Ivan sighed.

"Just another random mishap," Mia commented, frowning.

"I'm starting to lose my faith in randomness," Feizhi said levelly. 

"What do you think happened, then?" Sheba inquired, with a puzzled look on her face.

"I cannot say. Perhaps it was another work of the saboteur. Perhaps the carriage was simply old and worn out, and couldn't handle all our combined weight," she sighed wearily, rubbing her ankle. Mia tried Plying it, but it didn't seem to help.

"Maybe your Mercury healing abilities are hindered here by the amount of Jupiter," Ivan theorized.

"Jupiter should hold down Venus' power, not Mercury," Sean pointed out, scratching his chin in confusion.

"Regardless of my ankle," Feizhi interrupted, "we are still a great distance from the city, and night is as good as upon us."

At her words, the Adepts turned to look at their surroundings. They were a few kilometres closer to the city, but they had at least three times that distance to walk the next day. Aside from the ever-stretching grove of trees to their left and the rift that lead straight down on their right, there were no geographical attractions nearby, simply a long stretch of plains.

"We'll have to set up camp here for the night, then," Felix said, eyeing the group. "Looks like Feizhi isn't going to get far on that ankle tonight, and we'll need sleep anyway." Feizhi blushed a little, and Sheba nodded her assent. "Okay, then, Garet, you grab the firewood and we'll set up plans for tomorrow. We'll have to plan this carefully." Garet smirked.

"Okay, maybe I can help," he chirped. "Tomorrow, our plan is to head for the city, and, uh…" (he bent over and picked up a wheel from the carriage) "here's your firewood. Do you want me to light the fire, too?" Felix frowned. Jenna smiled and put on a face of astonishment.

"Why, brother, did Garet just outsmart you?" she asked innocently.

"That oaf will never outsmart me," he mused, turning away from the group, all of whom promptly started laughing. Garet lit the fire and the group settled off to sleep.

********************

The sun rose the next morning to greet a well-rested yet anxious group of Adepts. Forgoing breakfast until they reached the city, they set off as early as possible, Feizhi leaning on Picard's shoulder for support.

Every so often they would come across some new type of creature that threatened them, but so far they hadn't seen anything in this world that was dangerous. Most of the opposing creatures had wings, which Mia froze with any of her Ice-based attacks, causing them to drop to the ground, immobile. They could do nothing more than shriek in protest as the group walked by.

Finally, after a morning of walking, they managed to reach the city gates. It didn't look like much, the gates were shabbily made, simply weak wood, but it was a place to rest and eat, at any rate. Mokol, however, couldn't resist grinning.

"Welcome to Keunam," Mokol smiled, guiding the group in through the gates. Mia gasped at her first sight of the city. Though the outside of the village made it look small, there was obviously some Psynergy at work, for the inside of the city was much bigger than they had first seen. Whereas the outside of the city showed only a few straw houses and a few villagers, the interior was much more developed. There were hundreds of buildings and thousands upon thousands of people. The city was bustling with activity.

Mia took a few steps out from the gates and marvelled in the sights. They had entered in a market square, with merchants running all around trying to sell their goods and people bustling from one stand to the next. Jenna ran up and clasped Mia's arm, neither of them able to comprehend what they were seeing. The shopper's impulse in them started to rise.

In the end, Felix had to come over to them and drag them back to the group so they could leave. "We have no money!" he hissed at them as he took them away from the stalls, much to the girls' annoyance.

"We probably have something worth bartering…" Mia mused.

"Like you, dear brother," Jenna frowned.

"I said worth bartering."

"Oh."

********************

Mokol took them through winding streets and alleys, but all the while they seemed to be heading up. They had left the marketplace behind, and seemed to be heading for a large tower in the middle city. It was raised above all the other landmarks and looked extremely important, or, barring that, impressive.

"Say, Mokol," Picard asked, as they walked what felt like never ending trails, "what's your trick at the gates? Why does it look so much smaller from out there than in here?" Mokol chuckled a little.

"It's a simple trick," he said. "We've found that the monsters outside tend to be attracted to large cities as opposed to small ones. By disguising our large cities as small ones with the gates, they usually leave us alone."

"How do the gates do that, though?" Ivan asked.

"It's a simple Psynergy trick," Mokol answered. "If you had felt the need to Reveal, you would have seen right through it."

Finally, the group reached the top of the winding paths (much to the relief of Feizhi's ankle) and the path that lead to the tower. However, much to Mokol's dismay, there seemed to be a protest going on. He shifted uncomfortably and turned to face the Adepts.

"I apologize for this, there are… certain problems the people have right now. They can't quite see we are acting in their best interests. Just come with me, and try to ignore them." He lead them towards the group, but before the Adepts could make their way past anyone, they were all swarmed by the protesters.

The protesters screamed and waved signs at Mokol and the Adepts. The din was so loud that it was hard to make out what they were saying. One leaped forward and clung to Mia's arm. She was about to wrench her arm from his grasp when she saw it wasn't a he, but a little girl, no older than ten or eleven.

She looked right at Mia with tears flowing from her eyes, and cried, "Please, don't help him, don't! He's hurt grandpa, please, don't! Don't!" But before Mia could ask about anything, Mokol had strode over and knocked the girl off Mia's arm with a heavy swat of his arm. Mia wanted to say something to Mokol, but he had already left her, and was beating the other protesters away. Finally, he just summoned up some Jupiter Psynergy, and blew the protesters to either side of the Adepts, where they landed quite heavily on the ground. Mokol continued walking inside, leaving the Adepts in his wake. Some of the protesters weren't moving.

"Are you coming?" Mokol shouted back, holding the door open. Mia's eyes darted around the crowd, finally falling on the little girl, who lay motionless beneath a larger man. Mia dashed forward to try and help, but a sudden gust of wind blew her and the other Adepts inside the building, and the doors shut tightly.

"What was that all about?!" Garet yelled at Mokol. "They're just innocent people, you had no right to do that!"

Mokol didn't flinch. "They knew what they were getting into when they rose their voices against the government."

"So that's it, huh? You're the government, and everyone's supposed to fear you, and do whatever you say?" Mia whispered. "That little girl was scared. She was scared for herself and… and… I don't even know what happened to her grandfather! And now she could be badly hurt!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"This is politics," Mokol answered simply, with no hint of emotion in his voice. "The strong must guide the weak, because the weak don't understand enough to guide themselves." Jenna moved slightly, as if to say something, but thought better of it and stayed silent. Garet put an arm around her to comfort her.

"And who decides who the strong are?" Garet questioned. "You just get to decide who's strong just because you can beat up a bunch of innocent people?"

"I don't decide who's strong, I am strong," Mokol explained. "You'll have to come further in the building to understand this world. Are you ready to understand?"

The Adepts looked around uncomfortably. They didn't want to do this, but…

"We'll go in," Felix said. "But if I see anything like what you just did again…" he let the threat hang.

"Fair enough," Mokol said. "There are no common people inside, so you needn't worry. The only people inside are gifted, such as yourselves and I."

"Think awfully highly of yourself, don't you?" Garet demanded, his anger rising.

"I only speak truth," he replied, turning got walk further in the tower.

"I've got half a mind to fry you right now, Mokol," Garet growled. Mokol simply laughed.

"Oh, by all means, please do. I'd love to see the attempt," he laughed. Garet frowned heavily and then threw a hand out, calling "Fire!" as he did. A jet of fire extended toward Mokol, but he put out a hand and cast a spell to summon wind, which blew the fire back at Garet, burning him badly.

"That was your lesson," Mokol said as Garet slumped to the floor in Jenna's arms. "Oh… try and remember that attacking an official like that is illegal here. You could find yourself in a lot of trouble by doing that."

With that, Mokol walked deeper into the tower, then took a staircase down. The Adepts watched him leave, then looked at each other. There was no discussion, but Sean simply started walking after him.

"We may as well learn what's going on before we trash the place, right?" he muttered as he went, leading the way down the stairs.

It got darker as they went down, mimicking the increasing fears of this new world that were praying on their hearts and minds.

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(Char): I thought you weren't going to cliff as badly in this chapter.

Well, I wasn't. Then I… did. Old habits are hard to break.

(Dew): I imagine your head would be easier, though.

Easier to what?

(Dew): Break.

Ah. Can you feel the love?

(Char): It's all over this room…

(Dew): Well, we haven't hurt you for awhile, so…

This isn't looking good… what if I just said the name 'Shalex' for awhile. Would that scare you off?

(Char): That is a horrible name.

(Dew): Evil scary name, that.

Shalex!

[dead silence]

My muses ran away… I have a weapon! The evil hideous name! ^_^ Sweet…

Anyway, to the rest of you, please review! You can read the next chapter if you do! Not anytime soon, most likely… but you can!


	11. Divided

Well, let's just get right into it today, shall we? I know you've been waiting. What can I say? Writing for English class takes up my enthusiasm to write for ff.net. Darn life.

(Dew): I didn't know you had a life.

(Char): Yeah. We're always telling you to get one.

...I don't know whether I should be angry or... well, angry.

(Dew): That would make you angry.

...let's just get to the reviews.

Review Responses:

Tetra: To be quite honest with you, most of that I was thinking myself. Thanks for being honest!

Jupiter Sprite: heh... that name can now be used to make my friends cringe, coincidentally... SHALEX!

Ivan of Vault: Why not throw Picard in, then? You'd probably get a lot of money for him, and I can think of a few OBHL-ers that'd pay quite a bit to 'glomp' him.

MercuryAdept: *laughing* Quick...

Akachi: OW! GARET! Stop... stop stop stopstop OW!! How am I supposed to write if you-OW!

Midnight C: Soon is a relative term. ^_^;;

Cloud-123: Thank you! I think I will...  

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            Mia was starting to boil inside.

            The last few days had tried her harshly. First and foremost was the loss of her beloved Isaac. Her _one true love_ was fallen now, sacrificed for her benefit, defeated by a demon of her past. Her nights now were partly sleepless, with nightmares of his final moments plaguing her mind.

            And then, should she ever manage to see beyond that, she was reminded of the simple fact that she wasn't even in her home- in her world- anymore. Now she had been stolen from her land and placed in this strange new world, where she didn't know anyone or anything save those that were drawn into it with her, where the rules kept changing and where she wasn't sure of who was friend and who was foe.

            But even beyond that, could she _still _think about it, were the two acts of sabotage that no one could detect. Ivan and Sheba had attempted their best mind reading on their group, but it had not availed them, as still they had no idea who the saboteur was. Mia was thinking of possible saboteurs outside the group, but still she couldn't decide upon a plausible explanation. Of course, there was always the possibility of Mokol.

            Mokol. Just the name now made her tremble. He surely wasn't responsible for the incident aboard the ship, but the carriage incident could have been his fault. But even those developments escaped her minds when thoughts of that little girl arose again. The little girl who was in tears over her poor grandfather, and he hadn't cared. If Mia's suspicions were correct, he had caused it.

            Mia was definitely starting to boil now.

            And all things that boil must eventually give off steam.

********************

            The group moved slowly down the darkening spiral staircase. The sunlight from above was fading, but it wasn't getting much darker. In fact, for some odd reason, after a few spirals, the stairway seemed to stay at the same luminosity. Ivan pointed out some odd glowing objects on the ceilings that were giving off artificial light. They slowed their pace even more in wonder at what they might come across next.

            "Unnatural light," Garet whispered. "I'm telling you... anything that can produce light that isn't Sol-based just isn't good. Evil, probably."

            Jenna stared at him, then cast Blaze in her hand to give off a little light. "Are you calling me evil, Garet? I thought you cared about me!" Garet swallowed hard and then tried to move closer, but Jenna drew back in fake sadness. She called up fake tears in her eyes and stated acting extremely melodramatic to force Garet to squirm, which worked quite effectively.

            Jenna would have kept this act going for a long time to come, but they reached the end of the stairway and found themselves at the doorway of a large underground room.

            "Where are we?" Sean wondered, staring ahead at the room. It was lined with boxes that appeared to have glowing surfaces that displayed information. Some people were using their hands and other devices to interface with them. Picard started in amazement.

            "This is amazing..." he reveled. "Such ability." Mokol stopped at the doorway and turned to face them.

            "This is the computer room headquarters of the Keunam Fighters," he explained. "This is where we keep all the information for our missions and campaigns." Sheba furrowed her brow.

            "What kind of campaigns?" she asked objectively.

            "You'll see," Mokol said mysteriously. "But first, I'll have to ask all of you that are not Jupiter-aligned to wait here. As you can see, other elemental Adepts cannot enter this room," he said, taking Felix's hand and trying to force it through the doorway. Felix's hand wouldn't pass.

            The Wind adepts passed through the barrier, but stopped just on the inside and looked back at the others.

            "What about us?" Mia asked, folding her arms over her chest. "I surely hope you don't expect us to just wait here while you take our friends. There are still some things you have to explain."

            "Of course there are," Mokol replied with a tone of impatience. "Here, we can try something else." He pointed to a marble arch. Beneath it was a circular platform slightly raised off the floor. It was embroidered with the symbol of Jupiter. "If you all stand on that and we activate it, your elements will phase slightly to Jupiter... simply put, there should be enough Jupiter in you to allow you to pass into this room."

            "You make it sound like our elements are just liquids that you can mix at your will," Felix commented levelly. Mokol chuckled.

            "Call it what you will," he said. "Just hurry up and stand there so we can get on with this."

            The two Fire Adepts, the two Water Adepts and Felix all cautiously moved to the platform, as though expecting another trap to spring from the very walls themselves, but none came. They all took their places on the platform.

            "Ensign," Mokol nodded, "initiate Teleport." With many brilliant flashes of light, the five Adepts disappeared from sight.

            "Mokol!" Sean growled, "What did you do?!"

            "Isn't it obvious? They aren't even Wind-based, but they expected to be allowed into the very core of the Keunam Fighters?" he scoffed. "Low-life scum like those off-elemental Adept-wannabes don't deserve to be here." Ivan glared at him, his hand tightening on his staff.

            "Off-elemental or not, they're our friends!" he said darkly. Where did you send them?!"

            "Away," Mokol replied shortly, moving into the room. "Now hurry up. The sooner I explain the situation, the sooner I can answer your other questions."

            The Wind Adepts reluctantly moved into the room. Mokol drew them over to the largest screen, where a large map was shown, with great blotches of red and blue being shown over the land masses.

            "What are we looking at?" Feizhi asked quietly.

            "All blue spots on the map are areas that our forces occupy," Mokol answered. "The red spots show territory occupied by the enemy."

            "Are you at war?" Sean asked.

            "No," Mokol replied. "We are quelling the uprising before it begins."

            "What uprising?" Feizhi wondered. "Are you expecting a rebellion?"

            "The Keunam Fighters is an association which fights back the monsters that would attack the cities and destroy any levelers that come by. The levelers are the giant monsters, like the one you fought earlier," Mokol explained. "However, in recent months, the general public has shown... dissatisfaction with our battles."

            "Dissatisfaction how?" Sheba questioned him.

            "We fight the levelers as best we can, but occasionally, they get into a city. Once they do that, we have to continue the fight near the public," he sighed.

            "So what's wrong with that?" Ivan wondered. "Evacuate the public and finish it off fast." Mokol chuckled and shook his head sadly.

            "We try... but they don't listen. We order them to move, but they stay because they want to fight. Then they blame us when they get hurt."

            "You can't just order them to move and expect that they will," Sheba pointed out. "They're going to want to fight for their home."

            "The Keunam fighters are part of the government. As such, we hold the right to order the public to do anything." Feizhi shuddered.

            "Why should you have such power over their lives?" she asked, visibly startled. "Shouldn't they get to live for themselves? Why do you get to call all the shots?"

            "If we were to allow the people to stay and fight for themselves, and allow them to not  follow the guidelines and procedures that we've laid out for them, then some of them might get the idea that we aren't in complete control," Mokol said.

            "Complete control of what?" Sheba posed.

            "Of everything," Mokol answered impatiently, waving his hand as though to deflect bothersome questions. "As the governmental body, we should have control over everything that affects the people's lives." Feizhi shuddered and clasped a hand on her opposite elbow to steady herself.

            "That doesn't sound very fair to me," she muttered. "I should think I would hate to live in a world where others would make m decisions for me."

            "It's better than if you were to make decisions for yourself, about everything," he replied.

            "I'm not so sure," Ivan replied. "While I have nothing against a proper leader, that leader shouldn't have control over everything." Mokol frowned and put his face very close to Ivan's.

            "You're starting to sound like a Frean to me, Ivan," Mokol growled. "Don't spread those ideas too far; people might not like it."

            "What's a Frean?" Sean asked. Mokol's frown deepened even further. He gestured to the screen again, at all the red spots.

            "The Freans control all areas that show up red on the map," he explained. "The Freans are the bane of our society. They wish to overthrow this system and install one of their own." Ivan blinked at the screen, and then stole a glance at Mokol.

            "What system do they want to employ?" he asked.

            "They want to install a system where the people are responsible for their lives. They have grown so bitter at being... unable to see how much we do for them, that they wish to abolish all government entirely."

            _'Ivan,'_ Sheba called telepathically.

            _'Yeah?'_

_            'Is it me, or are we just dealing with two extremes, here?'_

_            'I see what you mean. In Weyard, we had happy mediums. A leader to guide his people, but they could live their lives. But here...'_

_            'I know... two complete opposites. One side wants government with total control. The other wants people with total control.'_ Sheba thought, her telepathic voice becoming smaller and distant. _'Everything's all wrong here... nothing's like it should be. It's a world that we should be at home in, but...'_ she trailed.

            _'We'll be home eventually,'_ Ivan comforted her,_ 'and until we are, I'll be here for you. You know that...'_

_            'We don't have Mia, or even a healer anymore. If one of us gets hurt...'_

_            'Then the others will tend to them,'_ Ivan replied, his voice calm. _'I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you.'_

_            'And if one of us does?'_

_            'We won't.'_

            "Well?!" Mokol burst, agitation dripping from his voice.

            "What?" Ivan jerked from his thoughts, glancing around wildly.

            "Are you going to help up quash the rebellion?" Mokol asked impatiently, as though he'd been waiting for an answer to that question for some time.

            "Can we have time? To think about it, I mean?" Sean asked. Mokol grumbled, and stalked off down a corridor from the main room. He led them down an ivory corridor and into a poorly-lit room. There were a few hard wooden chairs, but nothing else in the ways of aesthetics or practical uses.

            "You can deliberate over it here. Just make up your mind fast." He shut the door behind them and walked away.

            "I'm worried," Feizhi said, once she was sure Mokol was out of earshot. Sean nodded his assent.

            "This world is crazy. Nothing seems right here."

            "Not about the world," Feizhi said.

            "About Mia and the others," Sheba commented. Feizhi nodded.

            "They'll be fine. From a healing standpoint, they're much better off than we are. Mia's a gifted healer, and Felix, Jenna and Picard can all heal if they need to," Ivan pointed out. "Whereas we have no healing Psynergy and," he paused, looking in his bag, "I don't think we have any healing items."

            "I have an herb," Sean offered meekly.

            "One herb..." Sheba muttered.

            "They're much better off than we are," Ivan repeated.

            "Having good healing Psynergy isn't going to help if Mokol Teleported them over the edge of an island, sending them plummeting to the ground," Sheba, commented dryly.

            "Attagirl, Sheba, look on the bright side..." Sean said.

            "What are we going to do about the others?" Sheba asked.

            "What if we went along with the Keunam Fighters for now?" Ivan posed. "Just until we could find Mia and the others. Then we can ditch these guys and worry about getting home."

            "I don't much like the idea of helping them, but... if it gets us home," Sheba said softly.

            "So the ends justify the means?" Feizhi asked.

            "This is absolutely the worst time for a philosophical debate," Sean interjected. "Should we help them or not?"

            "If we go with them, they'll probably make sure we stay healthy, at least... our healer problems will be over," Ivan reminded them, with a meaningful look at Sheba.

            "So..." Feizhi trailed.

            "So we'll have to go with them," Sean finished.

            "For now?" she asked.

            "For now."

********************

            "Good news, sir."

            "What's that?"

            "The Wind Adepts are here, and are deliberating over whether or not aid us."

            "Well done, Mokol. If they agree, so much the better."

            "And if they don't?"

            "Kill them."

********************                    

            "So it's agreed, then," Ivan said.

            "Yes," Sheba agreed. "We'll help them for now." No sooner had she ended her sentence than a klaxon went off deeper in the complex. Mokol came bursting back to the door.

            "It's another Leveler... and the Freans are involved too! Will you come?" he cried. Ivan nodded.

            "Let's go," he said.

********************

            Mia's head was throbbing, but a quick wave of Psynergy washed over her and her headache diminished. She awoke to see her friends stumbling to her feet and man in brown standing above her. He looked ready for a fight.

            "There's a leveler ahead, and the Keunam Fighters are there as well... will you help us, Adepts?" he asked, helping Mia to her feet.

            _'Keunam Fighters?'_ Mia thought, and a surge of anger took over her. "Who are you?"

            "We're the Frean Resistance. Our objective is to overthrow the Keunam Fighters," he replied. A lump formed in Mia's throat, and she gripped her staff tightly.

            "Lead me to them."

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(Dew): That's not nice.

(Char): That's kind of a double cliff...

Kind of... but not really...

(Dew): Explain the not really part.

Easy. It's not a double cliff if you don't read it.

(Char): But everyone's read it by this point.

..._please don't hurt me!_

Review, yes, but don't hurt me!


	12. Deceptions

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the spacing in this chapter, but it looks like ff.net has twisted around some of their systems. I've fixed most of it, but I'm not sure about everything.

(Dew): Took you long enough...

(Char): After cliffs like that?

(Dew): You evil, evil little author.

I had _exams_. _EXAMS_, you diminutive, sadistic, egotistical gnats!

(Char): ...those vocabulary lessons are really helping, huh?

Oh, indubitably.

(Dew): ...let's get on with it.

**Review** **Responses:**

Tetra Seleno: Yeah... the Windies seem to over-think everything a bit too much, don't they? It kinda leaves them with a disadvantage now...

Cloud-123: Define 'soon'...

Akachi: So Mokol's starting to bug you right now, huh? ...are you _sure_ you want to keep reading...?

Falyse: Thanks for the praise... I'll keep working at it, no worries there. I'm just... really lazy, so you'll have to wait a bit...

MercuryAdept: No beating stick! Beating stick bad!!

Fire Dragons: ...whoever said it was ending?

Jupiter Sprite: I never said they would be _fighting_ against each other... necessarily. They're just... uhh... engaging in unwanted combat on unfamiliar terrain... unexpectedly.

0==R=a=g=n=a=r=o=k=: I'm quite glad you enjoyed the suspense. I wasn't sure how well it would work. Oh, and for the record, Praise be to God. Amen.

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"What's a leveler...?" Mia asked the man running beside her. He blinked at her, then pointed ahead and frowned. Ahead of them, at the edge of whatever village Mia and the others were sent to, was another giant cuttle creature.

"How many of these things are there?" Felix muttered aloud, pulling up beside the two of them. Mia glanced sideways at him, then focused ahead.

"That doesn't matter," she said dryly, looking past the leveler. "_That_ does." Felix looked forward, beyond the leveler, and noticed a veritable battalion of at least a hundred Keunam Fighters come storming over a hill. Realizing they were completely outnumbered and that he hadn't taken the time to observe their surroundings, Felix afforded himself a quick glance in all directions to scope out the battlefield.

To their rear was a small village, not much larger than Vale. Jenna and Garet were waking and rising behind and to the left of him, and Picard seemed to be up and approaching from behind and to the far right. The terrain was mostly dirt, and the surroundings seemed to be very hilly farmland, except it was barren, and nothing seemed to even have started growing. The village gates were behind him, and the Keunam Fighters were approaching the village from behind one of the numerous hills. The leveler was attacking a building that lay on the outskirts of town.

"Frean Resistance!" cried the evident leader of the Fighters. "Lay down your arms and return to your village. We will deal with this threat." The man at Mia's side scowled.

"We'll do no such thing," he cried out. "You'll do nothing more than injure it and send it on a rampage toward the city!" Felix sent a sideways glance toward Mia, but she didn't return it.

"What do you mean, a rampage?" Felix asked of him.

"These so-called defenders have found a weakness in the levelers," the man explained to them. "Do you see the spears they all carry?" Felix made a closer inspection and found them all to be carrying long spears with glowing purple heads.

"Why are they-"

"Glowing? The tips of the spears are coated in a chemical that injures levelers especially."

"A chemical... you mean, it poisons the levelers, or something?" Mia wondered. "Isn't that good?" The man scoffed at her, and clenched his hand into a tight fist.

"The poison slowly kills them, true, but it also causes them to lose most mental functions and sanity while they die. They go on a rampage. They end up destroying half a city because of the Fighter's _effective_ method of slaying them!" he fumed.

"Tell them it doesn't work!" Felix said, trying to pacify him. Jenna and Garet arrived beside him, but he was more concerned with dealing with the situation at hand.

"They don't _listen_!" he raged. "They go on with their lives, believing that everyone in the world is happy with their solutions, believing that they can run _every single aspect_ of our lives and that we will _take it_!"

"I agree," Mia said, staring down and tightening her grip on her staff. "I'm tired of this." Garet frowned and tilted his head.

"Tired of wh-"

"Of everything!" Mia burst, feeling a fresh wave of tears threatening to emerge from behind her eyes. "I'm tired of being pushed around by whatever psychotic power hungry jerk comes along! I'm tired of these stupid adventures, these quests and goals..." She clenched her hands around her staff even tighter. "I... and... I..." Jenna moved over and gave her a sisterly hug.

"And him. Right?"

Mia nodded sadly and tears flew again from her cerulean eyes. Jenna tried to comfort her, but Mia seemed to remember where she was and just shrugged her off.

"I'm... sorry," she whispered, starting to walk toward the battle. "I'm just... sorry. It's just... first that long quest, and then rebuilding Vale, and then... then..."

"...him," Jenna whispered.

"I've had... enough," Mia said through clenched teeth. "All that, and then... this..." she stared over the impending battalion with frosty eyes. The surrounding temperature dropped noticeably. "I've had... enough. I'm tired of this... all of this!" Mia's eyes snapped wide open, as if she was seeing the world for the first time. "I've lost my life, my history, and I lost Isaac." Jenna put a hand to her mouth to stifle a sound, though her eyes began to water. "That's right, Jenna," Mia continued, "I damn well lost Isaac because I wasn't strong enough to save him. And I wasn't strong enough to fight back, and I wasn't strong enough to heal him. What kind of Mercury Adept am I if I can't even save the _one person_ who really,_ really_ meant something to me?!" Mia brandished her staff and dashed off to the front lines, crying, "_Damned if I'm going to lose anything else!!_"

Garet stood, dumbfounded at the pain of their friend. "The frost queen speaketh..." He put an arm around Jenna, who was visibly shaken and ready to cry as well. "She'll be okay." Jenna looked up into his eyes.

"Isaac won't be," she said darkly. Garet stayed silent, but held her a little closer.

Picard came up behind them and drew his blade. "You know, Mia's a healer by trade... she's not accustomed to direct fighting, and it looks to me like she's heading right for that leveler."

"That she is," Felix said calmly.

"Shouldn't we-"

"Help her?" Felix interrupted him. Picard nodded. "Mia's mad. She's not dumb. She's only going to fight what she knows she can handle."

"She's going for a leveler! It took nine of us to take one down before!" Picard exclaimed.

"She's mad now," Felix said, still calmly. "Just watch."

"I don't see what-" Picard started, but Mia's voice, coming from near the leveler, cut him off.

"_Diamond Berg! Ice Horn! Drench! Freeze Prism! Froth Sphere! **I summon Boreas**!!_"

Picard shielded his eyes from the onslaught.

"Maybe we should just handle the soldiers?"

"That we can do," Felix said.

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"So," Ivan started to Mokol, who was leading them down yet another twisted passageway, "what exactly is your problem here?" Mokol flung a door open and led the four Adepts through to another room where more of the glowing boxes lay.

"Pull up a map of the area, Ensign," Mokol ordered someone using a box. The worker tapped some buttons and a detailed map of an area came into view. "This," Mokol said, "is a map of a village about a 2-day march from here. As you can see," he continued, gesturing to large masses of red and blue on the map, "we are here, at the outskirts of the city, moving in. The enemy is here, inside the city." Sean looked at the map in closer detail, and noticed a green square behind the Fighter's ranks and a small yellow circle between the two armies.

"It looks to me like there's more on the map than you're telling us, Mokol," Sean said. "And since you've already tricked us once I'd like to know what we're getting into..."

"I haven't tricked you at all," Mokol grunted, apparently displeased. "I saved you from having to deal with the incompetence of those other... so-called _elements_." Sean clenched his teeth a little. "Don't tell me, after all this, you still feel some affection for those... _people_?"

"Of cou-uugh!" Sean grunted, as Ivan removed his elbow from a sharp jab to his stomach.

"What Sean was about to say was, 'Of course we feel nothing for them. They're not even Wind-aligned. I can't believe we even spent as long as we did with them,'" Ivan said smoothly, giving Sean a shut-up-and-work-with-me scowl.

'_Ivan..._' Sheba commented to his mind.

'_The last thing we need right now is to have all of the Keunam Fighters angry at us when we're right in the middle of one of their installations,_' he replied calmly.

'_And that means we can just shrug off our friends?_' Feizhi interrupted into his mind. '_Many of them have risked their lives many times for you._'

'_Do the ends justify the means, Ivan?_' Sheba questioned. '_Can you justify-_'

'_You two have picked a really lousy time for a philosophical debate,_' Ivan reminded them. '_Let's worry about one thing at a time. This we can argue later._'

'_The way things are going, let's hope we have a later,_' Sheba commented darkly.

"As I was saying," Ivan continued, as though nothing had taken place in his mind, "you can count on our co-operation, completely. Having said that, I _would_ like to know what the green and yellow parts of the map are." Mokol nodded his satisfaction and turned to the map.

"The yellow circle shows the location of a leveler. This one in particular is here, between both sides of the battle about to break out," Mokol explained. Suddenly, the yellow circle disappeared. "Ah. That's odd. I suppose our forces have focused their efforts on destroying it, to start with."

"What about the green square over here?" Feizhi inquired.

"The green square here is a sacred place. I'm afraid we can't let you get in. We can take you near it, but you cannot enter it," Mokol said, waving a hand as if to move the topic along.

"What is the sacred place?" Sheba asked.

"It's an ancient shrine," Mokol said, "devo-"

"A shrine!" Sean exclaimed. Mokol stared at him oddly. "I mean... I've just always found shrines... interesting."

'_Do you think it's one of the four we need to light?_' Sheba asked through Mind Read.

'_I'm sure it is, but we can't light it, anyway,_' Feizhi reminded her. '_We need two different elemental attacks, and there's not even a guarantee this shrine is partly wind-related._' Sheba frowned.

'_How bothersome...'_ she commented.

"Okay, then," Sean said, trying to divert attention from the shrine. "What do you need us to do, Mokol?"

'_Some grandiose scheme to take over half the planet, no doubt,_' Feizhi remarked dryly. Sheba stifled a laugh.

"Well, certainly not a part of any grandiose scheme for world domination, or anything. That's not what I want at all," Mokol answered, with a grin on his face. Sheba and Feizhi exchanged looks. "However, if you were to go here," he said, pointing to a point behind the Fighter's ranks and well past the shrine, "you could get to the battlefield if necessary, but also get back here if we need you in a hurry."

"A halfway point, huh?" Ivan said. "All right, we'll wait there."

"Very well," Mokol said. "But stay away from the shrine!" Feizhi frowned.

"Why? What is so important about the shrine that we must leave it be?"

"The shrine is considered sacred ground for both the Fighters and the Resistance. If you disturb it, you will, in all probability, find yourself enemy to both sides," Mokol said, with no trace of jesting.

'_Better and better,_' Sheba muttered to Ivan.

"Are you all ready to go, then?" Mokol asked them. Ivan looked around the group, then nodded his assent.

"We may as well," he sighed.

"I should warn you," Mokol said, leading them to the teleport pad, "that the Freans are ruthless savages. They don't believe in government having total control and thus are extremely violent and cruel. Be careful if you approach them; you should leave them to us."

"We'll keep that in mind, Mokol," Sean said.

"Don't let us down, now," Mokol smiled, leaving the four Adepts standing on the teleport pad. "We're counting on you!"

"Don't worry about it," Ivan said. "We'll take care of everything."

"I bet you will," Mokol said, signaling to the Ensign to Teleport them. The familiar circles whisked around them and in a brilliant flash of light, they were gone. Mokol turned to the Ensign. "Contact the boss. Tell him the four new ones are trying to pull a fast one on us. We might have to kill them soon. Snotty Jupiter Adept brats thinking that I don't know how to Mind Read..."

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(Char): I'm starting to really, really hate Mokol with a passion.

(Dew): Me too. He really insulted us non-windies pretty hard...

Technically, he insulted the Adepts.

(Char): [Pyroclasm] Technically, you're a moron.

(on fire) A hot moron?

(Char): I will _die_ before I call you hot.

Hehehe... How about cool?

(Dew): If you insist... [Glacier]

(frozen)

(Char): Great... now I have to beg for reviews. ...hey, you! Psst... review!!


	13. Problems Come in Threes

(Dew): Holy crap.

(Char): Are we back? Already? But it's only been a few... days!

I don't have school anymore. I feel like writing.

(Dew): Wh- wha?

(Char): This isn't right.

(Dew): I'm scared...

(Char): Me, too...

... I get no respect...

**Review Responses:**

Akachi: What can I say? Mokol really, _really_ doesn't like Fire Adepts. Or Mercury Adepts. Or Venus Adepts. Although, now that I'm thinking about that, I did hear an awesome joke about some Mars Adepts and a lightbulb...

MercuryAdept: My brain's at zero power all the time! No worries here!

Jupiter Sprite: Yeah, Mia's extremely scary when she's mad. I mean... when she's mad, you don't wanna be anywhere in the same area. Or country. ...or world, even.

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            "Sir, you might want to see this," the Ensign said. Mokol walked over to the console.

            "What's the problem?" he asked.

            "It's... another leveler, sir. I don't know how, but it just... appeared." he replied, pointing at the familiar yellow circle flashing on the map. "It's appeared in the middle of the battlefield where the last one was.

            "A second one? This soon? How can that be?" he asked.

            "I don't know, sir."

            Mokol paced, frowning and arms folded over his chest. "Two levelers in such a small space of time? In the same area? How...?"

- - - - -

            "You know, I really don't like this," Sean commented as the four Adepts walked to their planned halfway point.

            "This, or everything in general?" Feizhi asked.

            "Everything, when you put it that way," Sean replied grimly. "We're separated from our friends, our group here can't light any Shrines, and the other group can only light two."

            "I don't think we're going home for awhile," Sheba said sadly. "We could be stuck here for quite some time." Ivan frowned deeply.

            "We need to find the others desperately," he commented. "We can't do anything without them."

            "Not to mention I'm totally against what we _are_ doing," Sheba stated, with a tone of voice that belied a storm of emotions within her. Ivan made a mental note of it, but chose not to force the issue just yet. He sighed deeply, realizing truly for the first time what it was like to lead a group like this.

            Ivan stared high into the sky, wondering about their next step, and thinking back to the days when Isaac was still leading them. The Jupiter Adept had always thought Isaac's job was easy, but now, faced with the same task, he found the pressure starting to grow, as each hour seemed to compound problems upon him. How did Isaac do it, anyway?

            "Hey, am I the only one that really, _really_ dislikes Mokol at this point?" Sean wondered aloud, effectively jerking Ivan from his wonderings.

            "Mokol?" Feizhi said angrily. "You mean that selfish-"

            "Egotistical," Sheba jumped in.

            "Black-hearted-"

            "Parsimonious-"

            "Penurious-"

            "Whiner that makes all Wind-Adepts look bad?" Sheba finished. "Yeah, I think we dislike him a bit..."

            "Hey, aren't parsimonious and penurious just synonyms for selfish?" Ivan pointed out. Sheba grinned at him.

            "Stop pointing out things like that," she smiled, batting him playfully over the head. "It ruins our ranting. Not to mention it makes us look bad."

            '_I dunno,_' Ivan said to Sheba's mind, '_I'd say you look pretty good._' Sheba smiled at him, and he grinned a little in response.

            "Hey, hey, enough fluff," Sean said. "Stop thinking things like that, you two, we have other things to worry about, you know." Ivan and Sheba promptly blushed furiously;

            "What are you monitoring our thoughts for?" Ivan fumed. "Those are private conversations, you know!" Sean threw his hands out in innocence.

            "Hey, Feizhi was doing it, too! Don't just look at me!" he said. Feizhi looked at him and blushed a little.

            "I... I never-"

            "Feizhi!" Sheba complained. "Not you, too!"

            "Well... yes," she said, blushing. "But I wasn't going to _say_ anything! Sean, you fool," she said, shaking her head. Sean turned to her in disbelief.

            "Huh? Me? Can I not _win_ around here, anymore?" he wondered.

            "Nope," Sheba said. "Now that Garet's not here, we need someone new to pick on..." Sean crossed his arms.

            "Oh, now that's just mean..."

- - - - -

            "Take a sword out, knock them down, hope Mia doesn't make us drown," Garet said, knocking out random Keunam Fighters with the blunt edge of his sword as he and Jenna danced among their ranks. "Dance in and out, turn and spin-uh... make sure no one hacks at... Jinna?" Jenna spun in close to Garet and put a dainty finger over his lips.

            "You have to stop talking, now," she said, half-amused and half-dangerously.

            "Come, on, Jin... creative liberties."

            "I'm going to take more than your liberties in a second..."

            "Point taken."

            Meanwhile, Felix jogged past them, with about fifteen of the Keunam Fighters trailing in his wake, following him to another part of the field. "This has to be one of the worst times to flirt!" he barked at them.

            "Aw, come on, Felix," Garet said. "They're just low-level soldiers... Don't worry about it, we know what we're doing!" he smiled, watching Felix scowl at him. "Oh, relax, I'll protect Jenna... what's the worst they can do to us?" At his words, a Fighter managed to sneak behind him and stab him with his spear. The spearhead went clear through Garet's forearm, missing Jenna by only a few centimetres to the side. Garet cried out in a mixture of shock and pain. "What-" Before he could even finish, Jenna had pulled the spear back out the way it went in.

            '_Aura_' she said, moving her hands over Garet's arm. The wound closed and healed nicely.

            "What in Jupiter...?" the Fighter gasped, recoiling.

            "No," Jenna said, sounding quite mad, "Mars." This did nothing to pacify the soldier, of course, although the unconsciousness brought about by Jenna's next particularly potent Fireball seemed to pacify him quite nicely. Garet stared in silence. "_You'll_ protect _me_, huh?" she smiled at Garet. He just looked at her, dumbfounded.

            "Well... maybe we'll protect each other?" he said, weakly smiling. Suddenly, Jenna's eyes started to mist, and she drew Garet into a tight hug.

            "Don't you get it yet, Garet?" Jenna cried softly. "Mia lost Isaac in battle, and all because he gave himself up to save her! And can't you see what's happened to her now?" Garet turned his head slightly to look at their usually calm healer.

            It seemed Mia hadn't caused the leveler to fall yet. Despite an opening flurry of Mercury-based attacks and the Boreas summon, Mia was still have trouble dropping the leveler, but she refused any help from Picard or Felix. To Garet, it was as though he was watching a totally different person. Mia had no concerns anymore. She wasn't looking over her friends to see who needed healing, or even watching herself to make sure she'd live through the battle. She just kept attacking the leveler, over and over, not giving any quarter to the great beast.

            "She's fighting like she has nothing to lose, because she doesn't think she _has_ anything to lose. As far as she's concerned, she's already lost it!" Jenna explained, trying not to cry again.

            "But... she'll still lose something, though, won't she? She'll lose us, all her friends," Garet said.

            "But there's a difference when you lose someone you really _love_, Garet... it's how Mia feels now because she lost Isaac... and it's how I'd feel if I lost you, Garet," Jenna sniffled.

            "Jenna..." Garet started, but she cut him off.

            "Please, Garet... you know what you mean to me... so stop taking risks like that in battle, Garet, please! I don't want to lose you because of some stupid mistake. I don't want to lose you at all..." Jenna cried, hugging him again. "We're leading a dangerous life, Garet... I can't imagine trying to live that without you..."

            "Jenna... you won't," Garet replied, holding her close and looking down into her eyes. "I'll take care of myself out here... but I'm going to take care of you, too. I can't imagine trying to live this life without you here, either." Jenna just stared back at him with misty eyes.

            "Garet... thank you...you're not the smartest guy around, but... you know just what to say, sometimes...  and even when to say it..."

            Garet was about to say something back to her, but the pair found themselves struck heavily and dropped to the ground.

            "Now!" the Fighter's Commander yelled. "The Binding Stream!" At his command, a long, thin purple beam shot towards Jenna and Garet and roped itself around them. They tried to struggle free, but the rope-like beam wouldn't budge. "That's a Binding Stream our research core just invented," the Commander explained to the captured Adepts. "Made of pure Jupiter Psynergy. Unbreakable." As if proving the point, the two Fire Adepts continued struggling, but they couldn't break free. "All right, soldiers, leave them here for now! Let's capture the other ones! We can have a nice execution bonfire tonight!" The Fighters roared their approval.

            Jenna frowned. "Maybe that wasn't the best time to flirt..." Garet looked around at the soldiers leaving to catch Picard and Felix, then stared at Jenna.

             "Okay, so let me get this straight..."

            "Basically, we can't fight, I'm in your arms, and we can't move away from each other," Jenna clarified. Garet blinked.

            "Is there something wrong with this?" he smiled. Jenna put her head down on his shoulder.

            "Not yet, anyway."

- - - - -

            "What's wrong?" Sheba asked. The group had settled at their halfway point, somewhere on a long dusty road, but Ivan was staring further down the road, back the way they had come.

            "I just wish we had stopped at the Shrine... I really want to know what elements we need for it," Ivan replied.

            "I suppose we could go check it out," Sheba said. "I don't see any reason for us to wait here anyway, and quite frankly, now that we're away from the Fighters, I don't see the need in pretending we're on their side anymore," she finished, clearly aggravated at their alliance with the Keunamians.

            "No, we really should keep the facade running for as long as we can," Feizhi said. "At least until we can find the others." Sheba sighed and looked back where Ivan was starting. She was pretty curious about the Shrine, too, she realized.

            "I want to go back and check it out, too..." Sheba trailed, looking back at the others. "At least for a while... just to see what it is."

            "How about you two go on, then?" Sean suggested. "Feizhi and I can wait here for... well, for whatever we're supposed to be waiting for, really." Feizhi nodded her support.

            "I think you should go. It will be very beneficial to us later, anyway."

            Ivan stared down the road. Sol was starting to set, making way for Luna. "It's getting late... I don't know if we should."

            "Night's probably the best time... less chance of you being seen. Remember, we aren't really supposed to be anywhere near the Shrines, anyway," Sean pointed out. "Why not go for a while... just check it out?"

            "I agree," Feizhi said. "We can wait here... just go, already! The sooner you leave, the sooner you get back here."

            "What if the Keunam Fighters return?" Ivan asked.

            "Then we'll have a story ready for them," she replied. Ivan took a few minutes to think, and the others could see the gears turning in his mind. Of course, if any of them wanted, they could have heard the gears turning, as well.

            "All right," Ivan said. "Sheba and I will go check it out. We'll try and be back before Sol rises again. Okay?" Sean and Feizhi nodded.

            "Good luck!" Sean said.

            "We'll be careful," Sheba replied, as she and Ivan headed back down the road.

            "You know," Ivan said, once the other two were out of earshot, "does it occur to you that we're potentially leaving the two weakest of our party alone in a new world?" Sheba crossed her arms and looked at him, frowning.

            "Do you _always_ have to look on the bright side?" she asked sarcastically.

            "I have a very bad feeling about this..."

- - - - -

            Mia was exceptionally tired. This damned leveler took everything she had and just kept coming. As if the first one wasn't tiring enough to destroy, this second one seemed even stronger. Of course, that could have been because she was exceptionally tired from fighting the first one.  And to make matters worse, she didn't even know _where_ this one had come from... it had just seemed to appear from nowhere. It felt like there was just no stopping this one. She clenched her teeth, tried to shrug off her fatigue and took another run at it, sending an Ice Missile toward it as she whirled her staff.

            '_Ice Missile! I summon Atalanta! Ice Missile!_' she cried, summoning and casting everything she could think of while dodging the slashing tentacles. The battle just wasn't getting any easier.

            "It sounds like you're running out of tricks, Mia. Getting tired?"

            Mia whirled to find the source of the voice, but she couldn't see a figure anywhere nearby that was speaking to her. The leveler hit her hard and she rolled back to her feet, then dropped back to her knees from exhaustion.

            "Looks like you're a little worn out, Mia."

            Mia clenched a fist in anger at the voice. Where was it coming from? Surely it had to be _some_where!

            "Ah, my dear, dear, Mia. Look up. Waaaaaay up."

            Mia looked up and saw a familiar figure with the Sword of Hilda in his right hand and the Tomegathericon in his left swooping down at her.

            "Shalex!!"

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(Dew): I'm... wait a minute, I'm sorry... did...

(Char): Wait, did you just...

(Dew): Is that a triple cliff?!

(Char): _Triple_?! Are you _insane_?!

Arguably.

(Dew): Okay, I don't think there's anything we can do to punish you for this.

(Char): Yup. That means there's only one thing left to do.

You're leaving?!

(Dew): Hardly.

(Char): To all reviewers, suggest punishments. Please. He deserves something...

Hey, whoa! No, no, no!

(Dew): Oh, yes.

(Char): Please review! And suggest, too!

Nooooooooo!


	14. The Madman Beckons

(Dew): Okay. I've got the beating stick...

(Char): ...I just burned him. Fire is better...

(Dew): We had a suggestion for triple punishment, too... maybe we should-

(Char): Hurt him four times?

(Dew): How do you get that from triple?

(Char): Bonuses.

(Dew): Ah. Sounds good.

[many hours pass]

(Char): [dragging Omniflyer in] And we're done...

...pwetty birdies... flyyyyyy

(Dew): He's in pretty bad shape. Think he can write?

(Char): [puts him in front of the computer] Have you read his normal stuff? There'll be no noticeable difference.

(Dew): I like it. Moving on...

**Review Responses:**

Jupiter Sprite: Sure, Jenna and Garet _could_ have died there, but... do you really want to see more characters die? I mean, so far Isaac's dead... and soon, so will- actually, moving right along...

Mercury Adept: I don't like that beating stick...

Fire Dragons: ooohh... you're psychotic. [smiles] I want some of the happy dandelions, too!!

Two quick notes:

Firstly, we're coming to the climax of Light's Shadow! Yes, you guessed it, Light's Shadow is going to become the first of an ongoing series of fics (mostly because there's going to be too much going on to properly convey in one fic). You can expect another couple of chapters in this (hopefully two or three, tops), and then we'll see where the story goes from there. Enjoy!

Second, there is some slight adult language in this chapter (as in, some swearing in a sentence later on). **If you don't appreciate this, I have forewarned you, and take no responsibility in what results of it should you choose to read.**

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_            "Alex?" Mia asked timidly, looking at the calm young man. They were sitting outside at the base of the Mercury Lighthouse, just sheltered from the wind that they could enjoy the scenery without having to worry about the bitter cold of night. The moon was waning, a sliver of a crescent floating in the sky above._

_            "Yes, dear Mia?" he answered quietly, staring at her with unblinking eyes._

_            "Why are we here?" she asked, drawing her cloak tighter around her._

_            "Can't I just... enjoy a nice, quiet night with the girl whom I love?" he replied, still unblinking. She blushed and warmed slightly, despite the cold._

_            "You're too sweet, Alex," she smiled back._

_            Alex reached a hand deep into his pocket, and came out with a fist clenched around something. He moved his other hand over it to conceal it, and then looked back at Mia. "May I... have your hand, Mia?" She flushed._

_            Mia withdrew a hand from her cloak and extended it toward him gently. He took it with his right hand and lowered a small box into it with his left. "Open it," he whispered. Mia stared at the box in shock, unable to process what she was feeling, nor to remove her eyes from it lest it disappear._

_            "You might be more impressed by what's in the box, dearest," Alex smiled gently, his voice soothing and warm against the chill of the night. Mia swallowed dryly, then opened the lid slowly. She gasped._

_            A beautiful gold necklace was resting inside the box. There was a small pendant attached to it, with a small sapphire in the centre. To either side of it was a pair of diamonds. It shone in the light with the lustre of a shiny medallion laying aside a fireplace._

_            "Oh, Alex..." Mia trailed off, staring at the necklace. Alex simply smiled, and lowered an arm around her._

_            "I thought... it might suit your eyes," he said smoothly, drawing her near. She placed it around her neck and laid her head to rest on his shoulder._

_            "What have I ever done to deserve you?" she whispered aloud, with all the passion of a young girl in love._

_            Alex simply looked down at her and smiled, flashing his white teeth. "I think the better question," he said softly, into her ear, "is whatever did I do to deserve you?" Mia blinked, and looked up right into his eyes. She snuggled a little closer, willing to sit in silence for a few moments._

_            "It's a... nice moon tonight," she finally said, after some time. Alex glanced up at Luna._

_            "Second most beautiful thing I can see here," he said, looking back at her. Mia flushed a deeper red._

_            "Flattery will get you-"_

_            "Alone and close to you?" he interjected. Mia smiled again._

_            "Possibly," she said coyly._

_            Alex grinned, and looked at her seriously. "You're very beautiful tonight... and every night, I suppose." Mia giggled._

_            "Alex..."_

_            "And every day of every week, and month..."_

_            "Oh..."_

_            "In fact, every day of the year, you're the most beautiful flower of Imil... with you here, I see no reason to ever leave," Alex said sincerely, staring into her eyes and running a hand through her hair._

_            "Will you... stay with me?" Mia wondered aloud._

_            "I'll never leave," Alex stated, pulling her close until their noses were nearly touching, and they were staring eye-to-eye._

_            "Alex..." she said again, unable to find words to express her feelings. He found them first._

_            "I won't leave, Mia," Alex said. "I love you."_

_            "Oh, Alex," Mia said, trembling from her heart or the cold, she couldn't tell which. All she could do was slowly lean in to him._

_            Lean in closer to kiss him._

_            "Alex, I lo-"_

_- - - - -_

            "Bastard!" Mia cried at the sky above and the swooping figure that neared her.

            "Oh, Mia," Shalex grinned. "My, dear, _dear_ Mia..."

            "_Never_," Mia growled, sending wave after wave of Mercury Psynergy into the air toward him, "_ever_ call me that again!"

            Shalex laughed and carelessly dodged Ice Missile after Missile after Missile. "You used to enjoy it so much, though." Mia flushed furiously. His taunting seemed to be pushing her to her limits, and giving her an endless supply of Psynergy to command. She sent more and more potent spells into the air, but they continually missed their mark. Picard ran toward her.

            "Mia! You're losing focus!" he warned her. "You're going to burn yourself out!"

            "Mercury Adepts," she hissed, "_don't burn_."

            Picard didn't back down. "But they do get tired. And you're pushing that!" Mia shook her head.

            "We can debate this sometime a psychotic demigod _isn't_ flying right for us. Now are you going to help me or not?" she cried, casting yet another Ice Missile that fell short of its target as Shalex swung in a wide loop around it.

            "This is not good," Picard muttered to himself. "We can't stand up to him by ourselves... he's got everything we do and more," he reasoned as he drew his blade and stared up.

            "So find me our Mars Adepts... Mars burns Mercury, I should know," she retorted. "Where are Garet and Jenna?" Picard scanned his eyes over the whole of the battlefield.

            "I think I see them over there... they're... lying down? In the middle of the...? Oh, dear _Mercury_, that doesn't look right..."...

            "Picard!" Mia exclaimed. "A little focus here?"

            "Ivan would have a field day with this..."

            "_Picard_!"

            "All right, all right!"

- - - - -

            "Move!" Ivan cried while grabbing Sheba and dragging her into shrubbery. Moments later, a platoon of Keunam Fighters marched past in the opposite direction they were going.

            '_Nice save_,' Sheba thought, squeezing Ivan's hand as a sign of thanks.

            '_We got lucky,_' he replied. '_But now I'm concerned about Feizhi and Sean._'

            "They'll be okay," Sheba said, watching the last Fighters disappear to the distance. "They have their Psynergy, they'll be just fine."

            Ivan frowned and stood up, offering a hand to Sheba to help her. "You know, I can't remember ever seeing Sean use Psynergy, except for calling up that small gust of wind on the boat. Are we sure he can use it effectively?"

            Sheba took his hand and pulled herself up, furrowing her brow and looking at him. "You've got a point. Of course, he's an expert swordsman, too." She looked at him with a grin, then added, "I wonder why you're that concerned about it... maybe you're jealous of Sean?" She traced a dainty finger along Ivan's cheek, then down across his chin and away as she walked off toward the shrine.

            "Wh-" Ivan stuttered. "Me? Jealous of... I... what?!" Sheba smiled.

            "After all, he's got quite a few personality traits a girl could find interesting," she smirked, enjoying the twisting expression on Ivan's face. "He's kind, and funny, smart and talented, he's an Adept," she trailed as she walked farther.

            "This is just totally not my day," Ivan said, shaking his head as he walked after her. Sheba chuckled and promptly turned around, and kissed him. Ivan blinked. "On the other hand, I'd like my last statement stricken from the record." The two walked hand-in-hand toward the shrine, which had finally come into view and within reach.

            The shrine was made of the same material as the lighthouses on Weyard; that means it was elaborately decorated, and covered with a very powerful aura that you could feel resonating in your very soul. The stones leading up to the platform were alternating in colour: some were a faint purple, and others were a faint red, which strangely seemed to look nice together. The entrance to the shrine was sealed shut by a large glowing barrier that alternated between purple and red. Ivan smiled.

            "Looks like it's half Jupiter," he said, smiling at their fortune.

            "Looks like it's half Mars," she said, frowning at their fortune. Ivan folded his arms.

            "Always the optimist, huh?" She furrowed her brow and shifted her weight onto one foot as she thought.

            "Sorry... it's just that it's useless to us right now unless we get Garet or Jenna here," she said dejectedly.

            Ivan paused for a moment, then said, "Wow."

            "What?" Sheba wondered, tilting an eyebrow at him.

            "I never thought I'd see the day when I was alone with you and I _wanted_ Garet around..."

- - - - -

            "You know, this is getting boring," Jenna said from her position bound atop Garet.

            "We've been here for five minutes," Garet pointed out.

            Jenna frowned. "There's a fight going on, and we aren't part of it." Garet paused.

            "I am so bored..."

            Felix bounded over to the pair of them and cast a Quake attack at the enemy soldiers nearby. "That'll give us a few seconds while they regain their balance..." He started yanking at the Psynergy ropes. "Do I have to keep an eye on you two all the time?" he muttered bitterly. Garet frowned.

            "No one's asking you to free us, you know..." he replied. Jenna grinned.

            "Actually... I am quite comfortable here," she said, snuggling into Garet's shoulder.

            Felix frowned, and punched Garet square in the nose, then followed up with a Cure to heal him.

            "Felix!" Jenna cried.

            "What the heck is this rope made of?" he asked, as though nothing had happened to Garet at all and his sister hadn't spoken.

            "Probably the same thing as your fist..." Garet muttered. "That thing's hard!" Felix shot another Quake attack into the enemy ranks to buy a few more seconds, as some soldiers were back on their feet.

            "They said it's made of Jupiter Psynergy. Unbreakable," Jenna recalled. Felix positioned Garet and Jenna very carefully, and shot a small Ragnarok through the rope, which immediately snapped.

            "Show me the day when a Jupiter rope can stand up to a Venus sword, and I'll show you the day Flint can shut up for five seconds," he muttered.

            "That wasn't funny at all," Garet said, getting up and stretching.

            "Shut up," Felix muttered.

            "Hey, I thought I saw you running to the other side of the field," Jenna recalled. "Why'd you come back?" she asked as the three of them assumed defensive positions.

            Felix afforded himself a rare laugh. "I heard you yelling at Garet. I enjoy that." Garet fumed indignantly, but chose not to reply.

            "So," he said instead. "Let's get this straight. There's a couple hundred of them."

            "Yup," Jenna answered.

            "And three of us."

            "Yup."

            "Doesn't seem fair, somehow."

            "Nope."

            "We'll have to even it out."

            "Yup."

            "Maybe I shouldn't draw my sword..."

- - - - -

            "Get down here, Shalex!" Mia cried. "Get down here and die!"

            "Is that my only option?" he replied, touching down on the ground a few meters from her.

            "Yes!" she cried, dashing at him and swinging her staff.

            Shalex chuckled and ducked. "D'you know what's fun, my dear Mia?" She clenched her teeth. "Jupiter Psynergy." At his words, he shot a Ray at her, which she rolled sideways to dodge. She leapt up and swung with her staff vertically. Shalex lifted his arm and blocked it, then caught it under his arm. "D'you know what's even more fun than that? _Advanced_ Jupiter Psynergy. Take a trip to the _centre of your mind_!" He shot his hand out and grabbed her face, sending pure Jupiter Psynergy racing into her body. He let go of her and stepped back, and she fell limp to the ground.

            "Mia!" Picard cried, charging at Shalex with his sword. "What did you _do_?!"

            Shalex only laughed as he used his fabled Sword of Hilda to counter all of Picard's attacks. "She's still alive, if that's what you're wondering. However, she's fighting her own inner demons and fears in her head. She won't get out until she can get past her own barriers."

            "You monster!" Picard cried, attacking Shalex with every trick of ancient Lemurian swordcraft. Shalex was matching him blow for blow, however.

            "Oh, come now. Relax," Shalex replied cooly. "Let's just relax and talk, shall we? In fact, Mercury Adept to Mercury Adept/demigod, let me ask you something..."

            Shalex grinned evilly. "Do you think she likes me?"

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(Dew): Shalex is a freak.

(Char): And I still hate that name...

(Dew): It is stupid.

Details, details.

(Char): Geez, enough happened in that chapter, too...

(Dew): Flashbacks, traps, romance, Garet-bashing (literally). Keep that up and you might be considered a good author one day.

Hmm... I wonder what I am, now...?

(Char): I have a book of adjectives here we can start with.

...let's not.

To the rest of you... looks like my reviews have been down the last couple of chapters. I don't want to beg for reviews like some... review... begger... but I _do _want reviews because they help improve the quality of my work! So come on, guys... constructive criticism time!

Review!


	15. Struck down

(Dew): So Mia's caught in her own mind, right?

(Char): And... the others are either caught in battle or wandering.

(Dew): But Mia's caught in her own mind...

(Char): My drama-sense is tingling...

Hey! Watch the copyright infringements.

(Char): Hehe... sorry!

(Dew): ...Char was nice? And apologized?

Yeah, I'm freaked out, too... let's move on before something _really_ weird happens...

**Review Responses**

Jupiter Sprite: Yeah, it's all fun and games until someone gets _triple punished_, hmm?

Midnight C: Apologies accepted, although scarcely necessary [smiley face, as Omniflyer grumbles at for removing emoticons], and the reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks for the sensory details point though... I've always been a more dialogue-based author, I think, so that seems like as good a place as any to start working at. With any luck, you should see a difference in this chapter.

Akachi: [intercepts the sugar] NO! Sugar is baaaaaad for Dew. Makes him crazy and gives him a British accent! ..._don't try_!!

Fire Dragons: Mia's not really... psychotic... just kinda... mad. Kinda very, very mad. Which, I suppose, can be the same thing...

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Feizhi sat perched on a rock, meditating on the strange events occurring to them and daintily brushing a strand of purple hair away from her face. The last few days had gone by so fast, and yet more had happened to them in that small stretch of time than any other she could think of. Though her outward appearance would suggest exceptional tranquility, it belied the turbulence of her mind as she struggled to gather her thoughts.

"Sean," she said after a half-hour of her self-induced soundlessness, "what do you make of it?" Sean blinked and stared at her, head slightly tilted with confusion. He folded his arms across his chest.

"About what?"

Feizhi gripped her staff nervously and fidgeted on her rock. "About... well, I'm not sure. About everything, I suppose." Sean nodded knowingly.

"I am confused about a lot of things, as well," he said slowly. "We have had much happen to us, but very few answers to explain it." He picked up a stick and started absent-mindedly drawing figures in the dirt, as though using it to sort out his own thoughts.

"What still bothers me is the sabotages," Feizhi admitted, furrowing her brow deeply. "I cannot understand how perfectly they were set. I'm positive that it was no one in our group, as myself, Ivan and Sheba have all ensured at least that much through mind reading." Sean moved uncomfortably, opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. "Perhaps Shalex..."

Sean stopped drawing and started poking at the ground, instead. "I... can't remember."

"Hmm?" Feizhi mumbled by way of response.

"The sabotages. I can't remember any thing that happened before them," Sean confessed cautiously. "I can remember being there with you when we discovered them, but... nothing before them." He traced slower with the stick, as though his own conscience was slowly wearing down his mobility.

Feizhi shook her head as though to shake out a lack of understanding, and replied, "I'm confused... You shouldn't remember the boat incident, you were asleep. And-"

"And I _should_ remember the carriage incident as we were all awake," Sean interrupted. "I can remember loading something onto the carriage, then going to get another bag to load, but then the next thing I remember is being on the carriage with you..." Feizhi clasped her hands together in thought, weighing all options and possibilities as only Jupiter Adepts can do. Finally, she sighed heavily and gazed gently at Sean, trying to avoid any gestures of incrimination.

"I wouldn't be too concerned about it," she said slowly. "After all, exceptionally traumatic events have a tendency to remove themselves from your mind, partially or totally. I should assume you've just forgotten it. Jupiter knows I'd like to," she muttered. She was about to continue, but the sudden sound of footsteps approaching from past a thick grove of trees that covered a bend in the path cut her off prematurely. Sean smiled.

"Good, you're back! We haven't heard from the Keunamians yet," Sean called out to Ivan and Sheba, but quickly turned to Feizhi before they approached closer. He lowered his voice and whispered to Feizhi, "I don't think that's it... I think I was-" Sean cut himself off at the sight of a unit of 10 Keunam Fighters appearing around the bend from behind the trees. "...not talking to Ivan and Sheba," he whispered. Feizhi swallowed and nodded.

"Can we help you?" she asked smoothly, running a hand quickly through her hair to try and look casual and calm. Sean tilted his body sideways to attempt making himself look smaller and less intimidating while slowly reaching his other hand for his sword.

"That depends," replied a woman smoothly, who seemed extremely comfortable with confrontation. She was wearing a blue ribbon to hold back relatively short blonde hair, and had a blue uniform with tall black boots. Her eyes were a deep, deep blue, so deep it felt as though every glance was one deep into your soul. Feizhi had no doubt she was an Adept as well, and Jupiter, at that. "Are you Sean?" Sean glanced at Feizhi, who merely gripped her staff tighter.

"Who's asking?" he grinned casually. The woman was not amused, and some of the others frowned heavily.

"I am Assistant-Commander Loretta, direct subordinate of Sir Mokol," she said importantly, drawing herself up to her full height and waiting for Sean to shrink in awe. She would be waiting a long while.

"I see. Is there something I can actually do for you, or are you just walking around trying to impress random people with your outrageously long title?" Sean replied sarcastically. She scowled.

"As a matter of fact, I have a message for you from _Sir_ Mokol," she countered bitingly. She looked at one of the others and nodded towards Sean. He walked forward, handed Sean a letter and returned to his place.

"Read it aloud, Sean," Feizhi asked politely. He nodded assent.

"'_Dear Ivan, Sheba, Sean and Feizhi,'_ Oh, that's nice, we're last..." he muttered.

"Just read it," Feizhi said, disregarding his complaints. Sean sighed.

"_'Dear...'_ yadda, yadda... '_Thank you kindly for your efforts regarding the Keunam Fighters. However, we regret to inform you that your inability to foresee events, such as the ability of fellow Jupiter Adepts to Mind Read as you are scheming in their presence, has led to our decision to release you from our ranks. Consider yourselves fired._

_ 'In addition, for attempting to scheme against the great Keunam Fighter Order and for previously working with non-Jupiter aligned heathens and continually showing devotion to the aforementioned heathens, Assistant-Commander Loretta and her unit will now oversee your deaths._

_ 'Have a nice day.'_ Sonuva...!"

"So," Feizhi said, with no change of emotion," we are to be executed for our choice of friends, then?" Loretta grinned and brandished a long lance. The others behind her drew various weapons as well, some swords, some short daggers, and one brandished a shining axe.

"This is war. If you can't handle that, die," she said simply, preparing to advance. Sean drew his sword into a defensive stance, while Feizhi lifted her staff.

"We shall not die without a fight!" she cried. "_Shine Plasma_!" Arcs of lighting bolted from the tip of her staff and shot toward Loretta. She grinned, and deftly raised her lance.

"That's all? _Deflection_!" she cried, forming a Psynergetic barrier around her and her troops by waving her lance in a wide defensive arc before her. The attack bounced harmlessly off the barrier and crashed into Sean, dropping him heavily to the ground with a grunt.

"Sean!" Feizhi cried as he hit the ground, still lightly sparking with electricity. Loretta waved off her troops to signal them not to move and advanced on Feizhi menacingly, eyes flashing.

"Aww," she smiled, voice absolutely dripping sarcasm, "is the poor little traitor in trouble? Is she all alone?" Feizhi held her staff defensively, but Loretta started stabbing while staying at a fair distance, making it difficult for Feizhi to counter-attack.

"I will never surrender... not to you..." she answered simply between breaths, dodging the flurry of stabs. She shifted to the right of one stab, then danced to the left of another. As she dodged left, she clutched the lance under her arm, then spun clockwise to wrench it from Loretta's grasp. She was successful, but as she was facing away from Loretta, the Assistant-Commander quickly drew a light dagger and inserted it squarely in the centre of her back. Feizhi screamed in pain, and dropped to the ground, unmoving.

"Silly girl," Lorette answered, shaking her head. "You don't need to surrender when you can just simply... die. Troops," she said, raising her right arm for a moment to gain their attention and then lowering it as she ordered, "kill."

- - - - -

_'Sheba... I am here, Sheba...'_

Sheba whisked around, jerking at the sound in her head. She grabbed onto Ivan for support as her knees felt like they would give way from the shock. He looked at her worriedly, eyes wide in surprise..

"Sheba? What's wrong?" Sheba stared back at her with unsure eyes, trembling ever so slightly. She moved to sit and he guided her gently to the ground. She took deep breaths to steady herself, but for whatever reason, solace wasn't coming to her easily.

"I... I don't know," she answered cautiously. "I just... heard something. I could swear I heard something in my... my mind." Ivan took her hand for support and tried to keep her as still as possible, but he was having a hard time keeping her from shaking.

"What did you hear?" he asked, exceedingly concerned. She shook her head.

"I thought... I thought I heard a voice from long ago. A voice I would never hear again..." Ivan tilted his head slightly and furrowed his brow, confused.

"Why don't we just wait here for a while, until we're sure you're okay?" he asked. "I think you should take it easy. It could be that a world full of Jupiter Psynergy is just... overwhelming you." She shook her head and tried to stand.

"No, I think I'll be okay," she smiled. "Thanks, but we should get back to Sean and Feizhi, in case something's wrong." Ivan didn't move.

"I'm sure they'll be okay. I can guarantee you nothing's wrong there right now," he replied, knowing full well that she was looking right through his guarantee. "I'm more concerned about you."

"But-" she began, but Ivan shook his head.

"You are my priority here. They will be okay." Sheba simply smiled and rested her head back on his shoulder and he held her closer.

"Thanks... That does make me feel a little better," she smiled. She took Ivan's hand and slowly stoked her thumb across the side of his forefinger.

"Whatever happens, we'll face it together, Sheba, right?" Ivan asked, returning her warmth.

"Definitely," she answered. She moved in closer to kiss him.

_'Sheba! I'm here, Sheba!'_

Sheba jerked back and would have fallen completely if Ivan hadn't caught her so quickly. He gazed at her with extreme concern in his eyes.

"What's wrong?!" he burst. "Are you okay?!"

"That... that voice... again..."

Suddenly Sheba found herself back on her feet, lifted either under her own power or some other's so quickly that Ivan was knocked back from the sheer force of it. She approached the Shrine door, but pulled back and gazed in the opposite direction, so the shrine was to her back. Looking at thin air, she started reaching for something that was not there, or at least, Ivan could not see.

"Sheba? Sheba!" he cried, now well past the normal limits of concern. "What's wrong?! What do you see?!"

But Sheba was so lost in herself that she was scarcely hearing him. She simply reached out to open air. To a woman that was hovering in the air, glowing pure white as an angel.

To a woman named Leia.

"...mommy...?"

- - - - -

"_Ragnarok!_" Felix cried, stabbing right through Shalex with a sword of pure Venus Psynergy, interrupting his duel with the Lemurian. Shalex flinched, but appeared no worse for the wear.

He growled. "That was just bothersome. _Lose Hope!_" Dark threads of Psynergy reached toward Felix and surrounded him, choking him and sapping his strength. Jenna noted Felix uncharacteristically not struggling in the midst of the attack, as though his will to succeed had been syphoned out of him.

"Felix! Snap out of it!" Jenna cried, hoping to reach her brother. A glimmer shined in his eyes for a second, but it was soon replaced by blackness and he collapsed limp to the ground. "No!"

"Jenna, stay focused!" Garet cried out. "I know its hard, but we have to worry about Shalex first! Felix is tough, he'll be okay," he reasoned, trying to spur Jenna on. She nodded and refocused on attacking. She waved her staff before her quickly and called up her reserves of Mars Psynergy.

"_Dragon Fume!_" she cried, launching streams of fire at Shalex. He called up waves of water and doused them before they struck. Hoping to catch him off-guard, Picard sheathed his sword and focused on concentrating Psynergy to his hand.

"_Diamond-_"

Shalex spun and blasted black Psynergy toward him. "_Wrench Mind!_" Picard stumbled and the light gathered to his hands dimmed to nothingness. He dropped to his knees and clawed at his head. Garet noticed.

"Picard, what's wrong with you?" he cried of concern. Picard strugged to answer.

"I can't... my spells, I've forgotten... I can't remember... my head...!" he stumbled as he clutched his head, collapsing to a twitching mess on the ground. Garet gripped his sword tighter and caught Jenna's attention.

"He can attack your mind directly, Jenna, be careful!" he cried, moving his sword to a defensive position to deflect shards of rock sent his way by Shalex. Jenna nodded her understanding. Shalex just growled at Garet.

"Let her figure it out for herself, oaf," Shalex rumbled at him. "Offering advice is scarcely fair when it's 2-on-1!" Garet simply chuckled, trying to show much more confidence than he felt.

"I thought you were a demi-god. What's fair compared to you?" he posed, maintaining his guard and trying to trick Shalex into dropping his. Shalex just grinned and gathered Psynergy again.

"Fair is your death. _Soulscouring!_" Garet cried out in pain as he felt the very depths of his being wracked with painful white light that ripped though him over and over again. Jenna cried out to him, but Garet couldn't hear her over his own screaming and the horrible ringing in his ears.

"How..." Garet gasped, falling to his knees when the attack subsided. "How many new spells do you know...?" Jenna ran over and quickly began to cast Cool Aura.

"More than enough," Shalex laughed, noting opportunity calling. "_False Cure!_" A black aura surrounded Garet, and when the Cool Aura of healing from Jenna touched Garet, the healing Psynergy turned offensive, ripping his body and dropping him into unconsciousness.

"Garet!" Jenna cried, horrified at the sight of her own abilities crushing her beloved. Shalex just laughed and rushed her, kicking her staff away and whipping black Psynergy at her.

"Oh, look. He's dead, and it's your fault. _Lose hope!_" Shalex laughed, wrapping Jenna in the same attack that engulfed Felix. Jenna muttered 'no' to herself several times, and only barely managed to note Garet's steady, but shallow, breathing, before succumbing to the darkness as well. Shalex looked over the battlefield and noted all the Adepts had fallen.

"How boring," he muttered to no one in particular. "They can't even stand against one little Adept. How weak are they?" He moved over to Mia, and lifted her hand gently. "Ah, dear, dear Mia..." He kissed the back of her hand and ran his hand through her hair slowly. "You are, so, so beautiful, still. It's a shame you will die..."

He shrugged and grinned. "Oh, well. There'll be others." He drew a small dagger from a pocket at his side and was poised to thrust it to her heart, but hesitated. "I think... I'd rather this be more interesting." He sheathed the dagger, and waved a hand over her face. "I think it's time to see what you're thinking... _Mind Read!_"

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(Char) I really hate him.

(Dew): I know. Shalex sucks.

(Char): Not Shalex. Omniflyer.

(Dew): Him, too.

...wonderful.

(Char): I think this can be counted as another triple cliff, can't it?

(Dew): Feizhi and Sean about to die, Sheba going crazy, and Mia's mind about to be intruded upon.

(Char): Yup. Triple.

(Dew): You know what this calls for.

(Char): [hands Dew a bag of sugar]

(Dew): Good times.

...umm... To the rest of you, please review. Sometime before I die at the hands of Dew... this is not good.


	16. Free My Mind

[dizzy]

(Dew): [fuming]

(Char): [fuming]

My skin feels all... scorched off...

(Dew): [British] That was from Agatio. Akachi sent him.

[Agatio is menacingly waving from outside the house, while waiting at the bus stop]

He commutes?

(Char): How _else_ did you expect him to get here?

[rubbing head] Point taken... augh, I can't think... Dew, can you get me a headache pill?

(Dew): [British] Mmm...no. You deserve it.

(Char): How bad do you think his headache is?

(Dew): [British] Quite bad, I should presume. Midnight sent Crystal over while he was under the influence of 100 Pixie Stix... he was bouncing off that empty head for awhile.

I'm so glad this is almost over... would someone please get Crystal off the blinds? They're gonna fall...

(Char): Would you rather he be on something else? Like your head?

... just leave him. Let's get on with it.

**Review Responses:**

Fire Dragons: I agree. Dew is freaky. No djinn should ever have an accent. Ever. With the possible exception of Hail, because pirates rule.

Akachi: Why do you even _give_ your muses bus passes? Maybe Agatio just swiped it...

Midnight C: Did you have to say "millenium"? I really want to give him back, now... At any rate, I'm glad you noticed a difference in the chapter. Now the only challenge is maintaining that level of quality, right?

Caster of Chaos: You... like having three cliffhangers in a chapter? Oooo-kay. I have some fans, then!

Alyss: Keep writing, indeed. Away we go!

**I upped the rating to PG-13 because this chapter gets a little angsty. On the other hand, this is the last chapter of Light's Shadow, and it's loooooong. Enjoy!**

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**_You know, there's really nothing wrong with failure..._**

Mia slowly stirred. Her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself limp on the ground, in what seemed an endless dark void. The voice seemed to come from everywhere, but at the same time, it came from nowhere, as though it was resounding from within her own soul, and yet resounding from a spot worlds away.

**_Of course, that doesn't exempt the fact that you failed. There's nothing really wrong with it, but you still did it, you know?_**

Mia slowly propped herself up and looked around, although, seeing how there was nothing to gaze upon but utter blackness, she might as well have kept her eyes shut. Feeling around her as best she could, she gasped to find that her staff was nowhere in sight (not that there was much to see). Moments later, she shuddered visibly (not that you could tell) at the realization that there were no sounds of Djinn in her head. Of course, she hadn't used the Djinn in ages, but it was still comforting to hear them sometimes.

**_I think the funniest thing about the whole ordeal is that you actually tried _not_ to fail._**

Mia clenched her fists tightly, and she gritted her teeth, staring around wildly. Her efforts were to no avail, again, as she couldn't see, and as far as she was concerned, the sound might as well be found _in_ her as it would be _around _her.

**_Is it too dark for you, Mia?_** The Mercury Adept said nothing, but frowned and shifted into a defensive position, unmoving and prepared. **_Perhaps I should shed some light on you. What would you like to see, first?_** The void started to light up, and Mia squinted as her eyes slowly adjusted to the addition of light to her metaphoric prison. **_Do you remember... I wonder..._**

The void lightened even more, and Mia found herself face to face with her past self. Except it wasn't quite face to face. It was more like Mia looking at young Mia, on a windy night at Mercury Lighthouse, secure in the arms of Alex. Mia– the grown Mia– gasped and stepped back. With a tear threatening to sting her eye, she called up Mercury Psynergy and blasted the image with everything she could muster, but once the frost cleared and the dew fell, there was the image, eternally present, with her, young and impressionable as ever, leaning in slowly to kiss him.

**_It was a nice evening, was it not?_** Mia felt sick to her stomach, similar to the feeling she had atop Mars Lighthouse's mighty aerie, and she dropped to her knees, clutching it.

"How could I... _ever_..." she shut her eyes tight against the scene, hoping it to go away.

It did.

When next Mia opened her eyes, she didn't see the Mercury Lighthouse, but rather a very familiar scene. Was it familiar because it was recent, or because she had seen the event in her mind's eye every minute of every day, and recurring in every dream– or nightmare– she had experienced since? She certainly didn't know. She only knew she was familiar with this scene. This scene, in a Valean shop.

Of herself, pinned to the ground by mud that she couldn't quite pull free from, a butterfly in a net, helpless.

Of Isaac, and his body being cut and split open by shard after shard of ice, a valiant and ever-giving hero... or sacrifice.

And of Shalex, grinning evilly and cruelly, sending more and more ice at him, savoring the scent of death, a wraith poised for collection.

Isaac fell again, before her eyes. Again, she watched him die. She turned away, tears staining her cheeks for what felt far too many times in far too short a time. And when it was over, and Isaac was limp on the ground, and Shalex had flown away, it stopped. And everything dimmed again.

**_Did you enjoy that?_** Mia pounded her fist against the ground in fury, saying nothing. **_Perhaps not yet..._**

And then another scene came in, and Mia recoiled more, because she couldn't believe the horror again.

_It was the same scene_. _Again_, she watched Isaac die. And when it was over, the voice would offer some snide comment and _again_ she'd watch it happen. Over and over, how many times, she couldn't tell, she didn't keep track, she just felt it wreak havoc with her soul, again and again.

How long did she sit there, collapsed on the ground? Hearing the same lines over and over? _"Mia... I love you..." "Isaac!! I won't let you die!!"_ The other lines were all background and detail. That was what mattered. That was what she heard the most. Isaac, swearing his devotion. She, making her promise.

She, failing.

**_You... failed._** Mia sniffled, and pounded her fist again. **_You failed... but I'll accept you, still._** And though she should have recognized that voice, she just wasn't willing to accept the tormentor, wasn't willing to fight him now. She _couldn't_ fight him now.

But then he appeared before her. And she didn't have a choice.

"Not now... not you..." she moaned. "Sha...lex..."

- - - - -

"Kill them," Loretta said simply, with her back to the pair of Adepts and her mind on other things already. The Fighters advanced. Was it wrong for them to kill helpless people for a living, some would wonder.

Well, it paid well.

Sean gritted his teeth, and gazed over at Feizhi. She was still breathing. She was unconscious, but breathing... there was still time! He, himself was still on the ground, stunned from the Plasma, but he could feel himself able to move again. He struggled to his feet as the Fighters advanced, and casually (albeit quite slowly and painfully) reached into his pocket. His hand closed around a jar and he drew it and splashed it over Feizhi, so the miraculous Water of Life would drip just into her mouth.

"Don't move," he groaned. "That'll take a minute to take full effect... don't push yourself yet." She gave him a weak smile, but didn't move.

"I'll forgo asking you where you got the Water... Right now, we still need to... defend ourselves," she said, but suddenly, through the power of Jupiter, she felt the waves of Sean's mind and found the master plan there.

"No... I need to defend you. I can already tell," he said. "My usefulness to you is soon over..." Feizhi opened her mouth to counter, but Sean was already cutting her off as she was being surrounded by Fighters. "Listen carefully. I'm the most useless one of the group, and I'm the weakest link, but if I do nothing..." he swallowed. "Look, I... I understand now. The boat, the carriage, it was me! I was... I was possessed, wasn't I?! Shalex kept that ability when he gained all of Alchemy's power..." He stepped left and barely dodged a stab from a Fighter, but couldn't help but take a slice to his right forearm. He stumbled to one knee and grunted. "All this time, you've all been in danger... and it's because I was so weak... to let myself be possessed... Augh!" he cried, as he was kicked to the ground brutally.

"No... more..." Sean growled. "No more will I put you in danger. No more will I be a hazard to the group. I will protect you like you hired me to, even at the cost of my life." And at that, with nary more a word, Sean gathered immense amounts of Psynergy to him, calling more than Feizhi had ever seen, much less imagined safe.

Feizhi's eyes snapped open as she felt a sudden familiarity in the Psynergy. "Sean, you can't!" Sean closed his eyes and nodded, succumbing under the sheer number of foes, but never ceasing in gathering power. "Without Djinn, it should be impossible! And it's surely not safe! You'll die!"

"I'll die either way!" he snapped. "But at least this way... this way I can pay you back... this way I can make up for my weakness... I'm sorry!" Fighters beat him down, but it was far too late... Sean was ready. "Hey, Loretta... try... deflecting... _this! Thor's Hammer!_"

At his command, the mighty spirit of Jupiter, Thor, descended from the heavens and swung his mighty gavel, beating the Fighters and the comparatively-defenseless Loretta over and over again with the full wrath of Jupiter. When the attack ceased, the ground was but a blemish in the earth, with slain Fighters laying around it.

And as Feizhi rose after the Water's effects took full power, she saw, in the centre of the crevice, Sean's limp body, not breathing, nor stirring in the least.

With tears staining her eyes, she called gusts of wind to blow dirt into the hole, filling it and creating a large grave. She found a piece of wood from nearby trees and used razor sharp wind to shave it into a suitable item to write on. Then she etched in it with rocks and Wind Psynergy very carefully, and placed it in the centre of the grave, a makeshift tombstone.

She said one prayer to Jupiter, then left the site to head for the Shrine where Ivan and Sheba had left to investigate, leaving behind a grave, which simply said:

_Here lies Sean; the greatest among friends we could hope for._

_May you find peace in new lands and journeys._

_You shall never be forgotten._

- - - - -

"...mommy? ...mommy!" Sheba cried in a flurry of tears, chasing an unseen specter. Ivan chased after her, but every time he caught up to her, she simply pushed him away and ran further.

"Sheba, what are you doing?!" Ivan cried in a panic. He chased her, trying to stay a meter or two back so he wouldn't be pushed away, but still close enough to stay near her. He tried reaching her mind, but it was closed. Ivan was building himself into a huge panic. What was happening to her?!

"Mommy!!" Sheba cried even louder, chasing after the invisible apparition with a previously unreached fervor. "Why... why are you running?!"

"Kinda what I want to know!" Ivan quipped, though none could consciously hear him. And suddenly, Ivan saw... something! He didn't know how, maybe his bond with Sheba enabled him to she what she did, but he was grateful he could, regardless. A woman hovered before Sheba, leading her down the path away from the Shrine. She looked tan, as though she had lived in a Sol-harden area for many years.

And then everything hit Ivan. This was Sheba's adoptive mother! But why her and why now?

Suddenly Ivan saw something out of the corner of his eye. He caught a glimpse of a dark, swirling... _something_ down the path. It looked as though it might be a gateway, or a doorway to something! And this ghost was leading Sheba right into it!

Ivan wasted no time in acting. "_Whirlwind_!" he cried, sending mad gusts of wind through the woman. The image started to distort, as though she was nothing more than a mere image made of fog. For a second, Sheba hesitated, but the image pulled itself together and led her onward. This gave Ivan an idea.

"_Tornado!_" he cried, ripping into the image even harder. Sheba stumbled and looked around for a moment, and seemed torn between regaining her senses and following her 'mother'. "Sheba, listen to me! It's a ruse! You're being tricked!"

"No!" she cried. "It's her! It has to be! I have a... a family here! Mother!" Ivan caught up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to prevent shaking her outright, but trying to snap her back to reality.

"It's a lie!" he burst. "It's a trick! I don't know why, or what for, but that can't be your mother! Do you understand me?!" Sheba closed her eyes and stalled long enough for a single tear to escape, then threw Ivan to the ground and ran onward. She was so close to the darkness now... five meters... then three... a few feet...! Ivan's heart stopped beating.

"Sheba!" Ivan cried out. "_I love you_... does that mean nothing to you, anymore?! Will you risk that on whatever's in there?!" Sheba paused. Standing at the threshold of the portal, she paused, and blinked. Blinked, as though she was seeing for the first time.

And slowly, took a step back.

Then she took two, and three. The image of her mother reached out to her, but Sheba called up Wind Psynergy of her own and blew it away. Both the image and the portal vaporized, like will-o-the-wisps in the wind.

"Oh... oh, Jupiter," Sheba moaned, dropping to her knees. Ivan cradled her gently and held her tight. "I'm sorry, Ivan... I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he reassured her, "I'm sure I would have done the same thing." Sheba frowned heavily.

"The past is... the past... how can it... affect me so much?" she asked, on the verge of a total breakdown at the thought of her actions. Ivan simply shook his head.

"The past is what makes you who you are, y'know?" he replied. "And if something affects that past, then it affects who you are. Changing your past will change you, no matter how much you think against it."

Sheba didn't answer for a long time. Then she leaned in and kissed him, and rested on his shoulder, saying nothing else.

Ivan didn't need another answer.

- - - - -

"What's wrong with little old me?" Shalex asked slyly. "Don't want to see me?" Mia barely stumbled to her feet, wracked with fatigue.

"What do you want...?" she gasped, panting ever so slightly, trying not to let her weariness sound in her nearly broken voice. Shalex smirked. He walked over to her and lifted her chin so she stared him in the eye.

"You."

He leaned in to kiss her, and Mia, using whatever remaining strength she should not have had, leapt back with every ounce of strength she could muster and completely _slapped him_ right across the cheek. Shalex staggered, but did not move back. He instead turned his venomous gaze upon her and frowned.

"Why do you not accept it from me, but you would have from Isaac?" Shalex asked her. "After all, he and I are so very much alike." Mia trembled with rage, nearly foaming at the mouth from this comment. "But it's true, my dear Mia!" Shalex continued, his voice as silky as ever. "Why do you think we each had part of the Golden Sun in us? Because he and I were _similar enough to control it_!"

"No!" Mia cried. "Isaac was good and self-righteous... he accepted it to _protect_ us! You just took the power for yourself... you just... _manipulated_ us for it!" Shalex laughed louder than she could ever remember.

"_I_... manipulated _you_?!" he cried. "What do you think _Isaac_ did?! He manipulated you from day _one_ and you were too blind to see it!" Mia could take no more... she threw herself at Shalex, tackling him to the ground and covering him in a flurry of fists.

"How dare you _ever_ say that about him?!" she cried.

"_Because it's true_," he countered. "He completely manipulated you!" he threw her back and rose again. "What do you think love is?!"

"What...?" Mia whispered.

"Romance, affection, love, call it whatever you want!" Shalex screamed at her, spittle flying from his mouth as he spoke. "They're all nice words for being _manipulated_. I did the same thing to you Isaac did, I just made it more _obvious_!"

"No... no, that's not true... Isaac lov-"

"_He did not!!_" Shalex exploded at her. "He _used _you! What is the one thing everyone wants, Mia?! To be happy and with a family. And what did Isaac want?! After all that adventuring, to be happy and with a family to call his own! And Isaac thought his father was dead (_boo-hoo_), and his mother was dying (_boo-hoo_), so of course he had to _start a new family_. And you were the only girl in his group to begin with as you trekked across Angara, so you were the _only choice_. Isaac just used you for his own security, so he didn't have to worry about living alone!"

"No... no... that can't..." Mia trailed off, drowning in her own disbelief and sorrow.

"And _then_," Shalex went on in his mighty tyrade, "he would always sweet-talk you, wouldn't he?! Telling you how beautiful you are, how you're the most beautiful girl on Weyard, wouldn't he?! _Everyone does that to the person they 'love'_!" he raged. "But it's _not true_! It's personal propaganda! It's utter manipulation to convince you that _he will care about you more than anyone else_. All that time, Mia, he _lied to you. He used you_!"

Mia lay on the floor, tears escaping her eyes, and slowly but surely sank deeper in despair. Could she have been lied to by... Isaac? Did he lie? Could he have?

Did he?

"Face it, Mia," Shalex laughed at her. "_No one loves you_." He moved closer to her, and put his hand down on her shoulder. She tried to move to shrug it off, but didn't have the strength. Besides, what was the point? "No one loves you, Mia. But I do. You know... you've seen my master plan, and now everything is perfect. I don't have any more reasons to lie to you.

"Just stay here with me, Mia. You can love me."

Could she? Mia pondered that when something suddenly sparkled nearby...

- - - - -

Garet slowly staggered to his feet. He shook his head to wake up a little (after all, those attacks of Shalex's could be downright brutal). Gasping, he dashed over to Jenna who lay unconscious on the ground and brushed a hand across her cheek. She slowly stirred. He ran back to rouse Picard and (reluctantly) Felix, as well.

"Are you okay?" Garet asked her once she was up. She held a hand to her head, then cast Cool Aura to refresh herself.

"I'm okay," she replied. "Is everyone...?" he nodded.

"They're okay. I haven't found Mia, though," Garet admitted worriedly. Picard stumbled to his feet and cheerfully (or as cheerfully as he could manage) walked over to them.

"I remember Diamond Dust, now!" he said positively.

"That's great," Felix said, rising and approaching while rubbing his head. "No one cares. Now if you remembered how to cast Ply..."

"Mia!" Jenna cried.

"...or if Mia remembered how to cast it..."

"No!" Jenna said, elbowing him. "It's Mia, over there!" she said, and pointed to where Mia's body was slumped on the ground. They ran over to her and propped her up. Mia was unconscious, and her eyes were fading from their normal aquamarine blue to a crimson red, back and forth, as though a battle was going on in her mind.

"I don't like the look of this," Picard muttered. "Not even a Wind Adept in sight."

"No, there are Wind Adepts in sight," Felix muttered grimly, "but they can't help us." He gestured over the battlefield, where hundreds of slain soldiers lay. The battle was long since over. The village behind them was burned to the ground, a lost cause.

"How long were we unconscious?" Garet wondered.

"Too long," Jenna muttered darkly. She sighed. "Just hang in there, Mia..."

- - - - -

"...no," Mia said, her eyes snapping open. She pulled away from Shalex, shrugging his hand off.

"No?"

"No. I just remembered something..." Mia said, looking at a sparkling object. It turned out to be a glittering diamond ring on her hand. "Isaac gave this to me... and he promised me that he would protect me always..."

"More manipulation! How naive are you?!" Shalex countered.

"No... because he said he would protect me for all time... even after one of us... after one of us died," she choked.

"That's manipulation. How can you protect someone if you're _dead_?! He could be secure his whole life and never have to keep up his end of the bargain."

"I don't think so," Mia muttered. "Right now... it's reminding me of who I am... of why I hate you... that's him, helping me... even after death."

Mia rose to her feet slowly and pushed him back, staring always at the ring. "He swore to protect me, and he is... and there's no reason for him to protect me, if you're right..."

Mia looked at the ring with a hardened expression, then said, "_That's_ love, Sha... no."

"No?"

"No. I just remembered someth--"

"Stop_ doing _that and say it!" Shalex complained, no longer appearing so smooth or cocky.

"You're not some demigod. If you were, you would have won by now. You're strong and powerful... but your abilities are finite as well," she said softly. "You're nothing more than a poor Adept who can't handle losing... named Alex." He writhed in rage, fuming at her.

"I _am_ powerful! I _am_ invincible."

"And you obviously can't get over yourself."

"_I will never lose to you!_" he shrieked. "_If I cannot have you, then there is no reason for you to live! Die, bitch!_" He leaped backwards and flung a stream of black Psynergy at her, that snaked around her and tried to strangle her, but she did not recoil.

Suddenly, a gleam in her ring flashed a burst of Psynergy out, that dispersed the darkness and counteracted the attack. When Mia opened her eyes from the flash, she found herself staring in a pair of blue eyes that weren't her own, but came accompanied by a blonde warrior wearing a yellow scarf and a sword in its scabbard.

"I... Is...." Mia choked, unable to speak.

"Isaac," he said gently, and smiling at her. They kissed slowly, and Alex boiled even more with rage. "Mia, thank you," he said once they'd finally drawn apart.

"For what?" she cried. "I let you down, you're dead because of me!"

"No," Isaac answered, shaking his head and brushing tears from her cheeks. "I'm dead because of him. You did everything you could.

"But most of all, you just proved that we were... and are... in love, Mia. That nothing, not even death, can break our bond. I would and have never manipulated you, Mia. I love you. That will never change."

Mia found herself choking back tears of joy as she kissed him again, and held him close.

"I have one last present for you, Mia," Isaac said. He drew his Sol Blade from its scabbard and gave it to her. Surprisingly, it felt like a light sword that Ivan was accustomed to using, and Mia found herself able to move it easily. "Here, in your mind, anything you want is possible. You can beat him here, Mia. Use the sword... use our sword, Mia. Strike him down for us." She nodded. Isaac kissed her one final time, whispered, "I love you,"and disappeared into the shadows.

Meanwhile, Alex was boiling with rage. With the Sword of Hilda in hand, he charged at Mia, screaming, "_I will not allow myself to lose to you_!" Mia rose the sword and charged back.

"Too late... you just did."

Metal echoed across the void as Mia and Alex fought tooth and nail. Mia ducked quickly under a lateral swipe, then countered with a vertical attack that grazed Alex's cheek, leaving a trail of blood. Alex kicked out and caught Mia in the stomach, then knocked her back and cried out, "_Lose Hope!_" while black strands of Psynergy whipped at her. The ring glowed a brilliant gold and the strands dissipated.

Without any words, the combatants lurched at each other again, both tired and running on nothing. Mia parried easily and wondered momentarily how she could fight with a sword so well, then realized it was Isaac's spirit guiding her from beyond the grave.

"You're strong, Alex," Mia said, deflecting a swipe meant for beheading, "but even you cannot defeat _both_ of us!" She turned the deflection into a parry that put Alex off guard, and swung a devastating blow that tore into Alex's arm. He recoiled and lurched back, grasping it with his hand as he dropped the Sword of Hilda. Before he knew it, the Sol Blade was at his throat.

"I..." Mia gasped, "hate... you..." She lunged, and Alex disappeared from the void, and was ejected from her mind. She sighed in relief. She had done it.

"I guess now the only question is how I get out of here..." she wondered. Suddenly, a portal glowing gold appeared, and Mia found herself drawn to its familiar warmth. She had no doubt that she was waking up.

Her nightmare was over. Now she had to deal with real life.

- - - - -

_"I love you, Mia..."_

- - - - -

No one but Mia was totally sure was happened in her mind. Even she didn't know for certain, so she wasn't telling much. All the others could tell her is that as soon as her eyes became, and stayed, blue, a red light emanated from her body and Shalex (or Alex, as Mia would correct them) appeared on the ground beside her, quite injured. He flew off before anyone could say or do anything, but, as Garet put it, "He was busted up real bad."

Feizhi continued on her walk toward Ivan and Sheba. She arrived at the Shrine and noticed they weren't there. She decided to spend the night there and to determine a course of action in the morning. All she could think about at the moment was the fate of the courageous and self-righteous hero she had grown accustomed to traveling with.

Ivan and Sheba hid in undergrowth for the night to avoid Keunam Fighters. They planned to head back to the rendezvous point in the morning. For the moment, they enjoyed being in each other's company and being alive for another day.

As for Mia, herself, she would simply sigh at night, overlooking the vast plains of their new world, wishing she could go back to Weyard and wishing that Isaac would be there to take her in his arms again when she got back. But he wouldn't, and she knew that. But still, she could hope. If there were other worlds and realms out there, then why couldn't one place bring back her beloved? She would swear to herself that someday she would bring him back, but she probably never could.

It was nice to dream, though.

People used to call her an angel. Angels were beings of light. She certainly was no angel, that she knew.

However, there was something to what they said. She may not have been a being of light, but she did have a shadow of despair that lurked over her. And wherever a shadow must be, there must also be light to cast it, for the two are, and must be, eternally entwined.

Perhaps that is to be the fate of Mia. Perhaps she must spend the rest of her days searching for answers. Answers about her own darkness.

Answers to light's shadow.

- - - - -

(Char): I can't believe it's finally over!

(Dew): He even left room for a sequel!

(Char): A sequel?!

(Dew): ...crap.

Well, that's it for Light's Shadow. It's been a blast to write. So without further ado, let's wrap this one up.

Firstly, I want to thank all the reviewers: You guys are a huge inspiration to me, through and through, and I could not have finished this without you. Thank you!

Secondly, to two people in particular:

To Tetra Seleno: When I wrote Chapter 10, the first thing that reverberated in my mind was, "I don't think I'm giving enough parts to all the characters." And sure enough, you proved my fears by reviewing. As a result, I think the last 5 chapters here have all been very well balanced by characters. Thank you for that advice, as I was able to really take it to heart.

To Midnight C: The other thing that was reverberating in my mind the whole way through, particularly in and around chapters 8 or 9 onward, was, "I'm not describing enough," and you pointed that out after the last chapter and that made me realized that _other_ people thought I wasn't describing enough. So here's the last chapter and it's about 9 pages, single-spaced. Hehe... you asked for it! Hopefully it's not just flat-out boring, eh?

Oh, and by the way? _Thank_ you _soooo_ much for sending Crystal over, I _really_ enjoyed him. [note the **extreme sarcasm!!**]

And lastly, I want to thank everyone who's read this fic but didn't review and talked to me about it personally or online. Your comments have gone a long way in improving my ability and I thank you so much for them.

Well, the way I see it, there are two ways to take this, now... I can either leave it here as a wrap, and if you want to have the plot continued you can imagine it in your mind, _or_ I can start writing a sequel to it. If you would like something one way or the other, please include it in a review and let me know, so I don't waste all your time with fics you don't want to see!

That's it for me, then. Until next time!

"_Some things need to be believed to be seen._"


End file.
